Mansion Alternatives
Grassroots
Walking Tour
Compass Roses:
Join Kiddie Pool and Compass Roses artists for a walking tour of grassroots projects (past and present) in Albany’s Mansion Historic District. The tour is led by Alexis Bhagat, archivist, organizer, and longtime neighborhood resident. Along the way, you’ll hear stories of radical artists and activists, teachers and farmers, midwives and squatters. Together, we’ll explore how the Mansion neighborhood has cultivated a grassroots ethos that continues to shape the Capital Region today.
Our tour begins at The People’s Park, and finishes with light refreshments at Radix Ecological Sustainability Center. The distance is 1 mile, so wear comfortable shoes. Street parking is readily available.
Saturday 9/27
3—4 pm
Grassroots Projects in the Mansion District of Albany, NY
by Karley Sullivan
Compass Roses: Mansion Alternatives is a reflection on the layered histories embedded in Albany’s maps and a celebration of my neighborhood's grassroots response to the socioeconomic disadvantages embedded in the planning of the NYS Capital City. The heart of the project is a living archive of alternative projects in Albany's Mansion District, which includes a growing digital record, a physical installation at Opalka Gallery, and a walking tour.
The interactive gallery installation of layered, semi-transparent maps of Albany provides historical and spatial context, giving visitors an opportunity to see how city planning created socioeconomic divisions that have crystallized over time. Suspended on an architect’s handle, viewers are invited to touch, flip, and look through the maps. The visible taping and imperfect edges reference the often messy process of grassroots creation, and a QR code links to map references, grounding the overlays in historical context while inviting viewers to consider how urban design has framed life in Albany across generations.
The walking map and guided tour zoom into the Mansion District to spotlight the neighborhood’s legacy of grassroots organization. These densely populated blocks are part of Albany’s historically disadvantaged South End, unfolding in the shadow of the Empire State political complex. This neighborhood has long nurtured alternative projects including: The Free School, the oldest independent inner-city alternative school in the country; We Are Revolutionary, which empowers the youth to heal their ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) through engagement in civic life; early Food Not Bombs communal spaces, and garden spaces created by Soul Fire Farm founders Leah and Jonah Penniman. The Mansion District remains a hub for grassroots organizing, home to projects like Radix, an urban ecological research center, and Kiddie Pool, the artist-run space I operate out of our 151-year-old rowhouse.
Compass Roses: Mansion Alternatives is a living reflection on the labor of imagining community. There will be a guided tour in late September, finishing at Radix Urban Ecological Center over tea with members of the community.
Guided Tour Date TBA, please check back to sign up.
