Street Works Earth Festival Returns to Queens with Focus on Climate Careers and Community Action
The Street Works Earth festival in Queens brings together artists, climate experts, and community groups to address climate justice through co-creation and career opportunities, highlighting New York's lag in meeting climate goals.
Street Works Earth, a day-long festival of art, climate action, and community, returns for its second year to 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights on September 21. The event, organized by Street Works in partnership with Make Justice Normal, features over 100 artists, climate experts, and community groups and coincides with New York Climate Week. This year's festival introduces Future@Work, a career fair designed to help people explore climate-related career paths, co-created by multiple organizations including ALIGN, El Puente, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice.
The festival emphasizes co-creation as an artistic and organizational practice, where art is not finished until made collectively with community input. It addresses New York's ongoing challenges in complying with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), using the event to foster rapid action and collaborative decision-making among residents, justice leaders, and policymakers. Additional themes include Thread Lightly, exploring fashion's cultural and political power, and Kindred Roots, focusing on care and mental wellness practices.
Future@Work, taking place from 12:00-2:00 pm, aims to connect attendees with green job opportunities, particularly supporting frontline communities, young people, and BIPOC individuals in shaping the climate future. The event is free, family-friendly, and open to the public, running from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. Last year's festival drew over 3,000 attendees and 75 participating groups, highlighting the growing community engagement around climate justice and creative activism.
Quotes from co-designers underscore the festival's significance. Street Works co-founder Anjali Deshmukh noted the need for practical support and joy in building resilience, while Monique Aiken of Make Justice Normal described the event as a model for justice-centered organizing. Jenille Scott of ALIGN emphasized that climate action and good jobs are inseparable for a just transition. The festival demonstrates how public spaces can be reclaimed for community-driven solutions, blending art, activism, and career development to address urgent environmental and social challenges.