The artists behind our incredible fish odyssey
June 3, 2025
Riverkeeper Team
To honor the epic migrations of Hudson River fishes, a whole roster of artists and organizers came together to create the Riverkeeper Fish Migration Celebration on Saturday, June 14.
The exercise has been equal parts spiritual and logistical, tapping into the deep expertise of all our collaborators.
Riverkeeper is grateful to the creative individuals who joined our team in contributing with heart and grit to this vast and meaningful community celebration.
MEET THE ARTISTS
Greg Corbino
Greg Corbino designed and led the construction of the massive sturgeon that adorns the Schooner Apollonia, the vessel that will lead the flotilla of “fish boats” on June 14. He played a key role in developing the overarching vision of the event, designed the fishy flags and banners that will decorate the five flotilla boats, and ran community art builds where volunteers came together to bring them to life.
Greg Corbino is an OBIE Award winning designer specializing in puppetry, large-scale installation and performance in public space. His designs have been called “gorgeously baroque” by The New Yorker and “crafty and audacious” by The New York Times. His work has been presented at Soho Rep (It’s That Time of the Month, Give Me Carmelita Tropicana, The Great Privation), The Brooklyn Academy of Music (Cumulus Frenzy), Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival (As You Like It) as well as The High Line, The Architecture League of New York, The Queens Museum, The Leslie Lohman Museum of Art, HEREarts, Guild Hall, Art Yard, and the Smithsonian Institution. Internationally, his work has been produced at QueerLab (Rome), Duncan Dance Research Center (Athens, Greece), Togo Village Art Museum (Togo, Taiwan), Other Music Academy (Weimar, Germany), and Festival Mondial des Théâtres de Marionnettes (Charleville-Mézières, France). His ongoing public space puppet performance, MURMURATIONS, draws attention to the environmental impact of plastics with giant puppets crafted of plastic trash collected from New York shorelines and has been supported by the The New York State Council on the Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Riverkeeper, and Greenpeace USA. He lives and works in Brooklyn.
Heather Henson and Green Feather Foundation
Heather Henson and Green Feather Foundation contributed their unique vision that reflects an environmental zeal grounded in a legacy of imaginative craftsmanship. For the Welcoming of the Fish launch event in New York City, they developed a public-participatory Parade of the Fish, led by a giant sturgeon puppet created by the Jim Henson Creature Shop and featuring choreographed dancers representing parts of the aquatic ecosystem. Their river-themed puppet performance is also a highlight of Riverkeeper’s Fish Village at the Hudson River Music Festival in Croton.
Heather Henson is a producer, puppet artist, and philanthropist whose work promotes healing for the planet and bringing people into harmony with nature through immersive experiences. As founder of Green Feather Foundation, Heather produces her own theatrical works — Ajijaak on Turtle Island, Harmonious Migrations, Celebration of Flight, Panther and Crane, Endangered Species Parade, Lhamo Trung Trung, Echo Trace — as well as supporting the work of other independent artists through the Handmade Puppet Dreams film series (currently available to stream on Amazon, Roku, and Kanopy) and through the Puppet Slam Network, a grassroots community of presenters of short form puppetry for adults. In addition, Heather organizes workshops and retreats through a program called “Nature Makers,” fostering a community of professional artists using puppetry to deepen their personal connection with nature.
In honoring her parents’ legacies, Heather serves as President of The Jane Henson Foundation, Chair of the Jim Henson Legacy, and Shareholder of the Jim Henson Company.
Green Feather Foundation is a multi-platform non-profit encompassing existing programs of IBEX Puppetry, Handmade Puppet Dreams, Puppet Slam Network, as well as the educational and philanthropic works of Heather Henson. Founded by Henson in 2020 — umbrellaing work dating back to 2000 — Green Feather’s mission is to promote health and healing of the planet through artistic spectacle, puppetry, and the reconnection of individuals with the land through immersive cultural, environmental and arts education.
Rhiannon Catalyst of Catalyst Culture Labs
Rhiannon Catalyst of Catalyst Culture Labs collaborated soulfully with the Riverkeeper team and, it seemed, listened to the fish themselves in developing the empassioned story at the heart of the Riverkeeper Fish Migration Celebration. She is also orchestrating the flotilla of five fish-themed boats that will process upriver from New York City to our landing event at the Hudson River Music Festival at Croton Point Park on June 14.
Rhiannon Catalyst is an interdisciplinary climate artist and immersive producer known for her creative work at the intersection of art and science, and her leadership at the helm of large-scale, collaborative works designed to spark change. She is the founder of Catalyst Culture Labs, a multimedia production company and creative incubator focused on social and global transformation. Her work often explores our relationship with water — Ancestors and Glaciers, for example, weaves hydrophone recordings of melting glaciers with movement, scent, and story. Catalyst produces tours with the award-winning immersive theater ensemble BELLA GAIA, created with NASA to simulate the Overview Effect and inspire environmental stewardship across generations. As Creative Director and Program Producer for Purpose Earth, and for projects with Unity Earth and others, she co-creates global programs that unite peacebuilders, artists, Indigenous and environmental leaders, and grassroots changemakers. As one of the first featured artists with “radically inclusive” tech incubator Music Not Impossible, she integrates haptics into immersive experiences. Her original works — To Sense the Sea, Homesick, and Ancestors and Glaciers — feature ambisonic sound, field recordings, and costume. Catalyst serves on the board of the Beautiful Earth Foundation, and is passionate about the transformative power of cross-disciplinary, intergenerational collaboration.
Big Green Theater, a program of Superhero Clubhouse in partnership with the New York Harbor School and LMCC Arts Center
Big Green Theater, a program of Superhero Clubhouse — in partnership with the New York Harbor School and LMCC Arts Center — led students in the creation of songs, monologues, and puppets made from marine debris, all inspired by the five amazing migratory fish species of the Hudson River. Singer-songwriter treya lam will perform five fish songs written in collaboration with teenage students at the New York Harbor School at the Riverkeeper Fish Migration Celebration Welcoming of the Fish launch event on June 14.
Big Green Theater is an eco-playwriting program for public school students that uplifts the imaginations of young people at the frontlines of climate and environmental justice and brings their ideas to life on stage. BGT aims to inspire students to manifest a sustainable and just community by using the power of their creative voice. BGT is now in its 15th year and going strong. The focus of this spring’s program is the magical migratory fish of the Mahicantuck (Hudson River), to complement the first annual Riverkeeper Fish Migration Celebration.
Superhero Clubhouse creates theater to enact climate and environmental justice, cultivate hope, and inspire a thriving future. The company makes original performances and offers creative resources for communities and collaborators from all walks of life: students, scientists, artists, organizers, teachers, policy-makers, and more. Their artistic processes bring people together across differences and disciplines to model a regenerative society in response to climate and environmental crises. The work of Superhero Clubhouse is joyfully rooted in ecological knowledge, relationship to the land, and imagination as a powerful tool of future-building.
treya lam is a composer, interdisciplinary performing and recording artist, and curator whose intersecting identities inform and ignite their work. lam’s voice culminates in liberation-oriented songwriting and environmental scores throughout solo and collaborative work across disciplines that “perfectly captures the mixture of love, loss and hope” (Smithsonian Magazine). treya’s debut album Good News was created entirely by womxn and released via Kaki King’s label. As an active member of the Resistance Revival Chorus, their song “Dawn” was featured on the RRC’s album This Joy alongside Rhiannon Giddens and released on Righteous Babe Records. lam is currently finishing their highly anticipated sophomore record "otherland: a sonic altar" produced by Elenna Canlas. They have been a OneBeat Fellow, Joe’s Pub Working Group resident, and NYCLU Artist Ambassador. lam has supported and shared stages with Ani DiFranco, Valerie June, Allison Russell, and Susie Ibarra and has performed original music at Lincoln Center, MASS MoCA, and Newport Folk Fest.
Alexander “Brave Journey” Sterling
Alexander "Brave Journey" Sterling leads the Welcoming of the Fish ceremony and river blessing at our Riverkeeper Fish Migration Celebration launch event.
Alexander "Brave Journey" Sterling (Ramapough Munsee Lenape, Cuban and Black) is The Founder and CEO of Turtle Island Community Capital, an emerging Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) that expands capital access for tribal communities, small businesses, and clean energy projects. A dedicated leader in renewable energy finance and community development with a strong commitment to advancing Afro-Indigenous led clean energy solutions, he has played a pivotal role in deploying solar and storage solutions across Native lands, ensuring long-term energy sovereignty and economic resilience. His current focus on building sustainable systems for Energy, Financial, Food and Water sovereignty with tribal partners in the northeast reflects a lifelong commitment to advancing native stories and rights.
A recognized speaker on Native-led energy finance on the national stage, Alexander is shaping policies and investment strategies that prioritize Indigenous economic self-determination. His leadership at TICC reflects his dedication to advancing regenerative economic models that strengthen Native nations and promote climate resilience.
Sleepy Hollow Project
Sleepy Hollow Project members Gina Carey, Fay Serafica, and Megan Isenstadt brought communities together around the idea and execution of the Riverkeeper Fish Migration Celebration, most especially our Fish Village at the Hudson River Music Festival. Their grassroots organizing and big collaborative spirit ensured that the event took shape (and took place)!
Sleepy Hollow Project is a multimedia working group that aims to elevate community connectedness and address local issues through creative branding, collaboration, art, and events. The company was formed by Sleepy Hollow residents, Gina Carey, Fay Serafica and Megan Isenstadt, whose professional careers in marketing, digital media, project management, event planning, and documentary film strongly position them to solve problems and reimagine the mundane as something magical. SHP specializes in creating efficiencies in processes to streamline projects, generating organic buzz through innovative marketing, and connecting people while inspiring involvement via community events and creative storytelling. They specialize in environmental projects that blend meaningful community engagement with art and whimsy, including the annual Sleepy Hollow Mermaid Festival.
Erwin Ong
A final shout-out to Erwin Ong of A Duck Amuck who made the Riverkeeper Fish Migration Celebration logo and the illustrations of the Atlantic sturgeon, American eel, river herring, American shad, and striped bass that have been so central in spreading the word about these amazing migratory creatures and our event that honors them.
Erwin Ong is a Filipino-American illustrator, surface design artist, and muralist based in White Plains, New York. His bright and happy character-based illustrations are influenced by a love for nature, food, and city living. Erwin started A Duck Amuck in 2020 to give people the tools that can bring more joy into their lives, whether through writing short notes and greetings, giving gifts, or decorating a home or office with bright and happy artwork.
Funkrust Brass Band
Funkrust Brass Band brings their big spirit and rousing energy to the puppet parades at our Welcoming of the Fish launch event in Manhattan and our landing event at the Hudson River Music Festival in Croton-on-Hudson
Funkrust Brass Band is a 20-piece post-apocalyptic disco-punk brass band playing all original music with megaphone vocals, heavy tuba bass lines, thundering percussion and searing brass melodies. Their explosive live performances feature full band choreography, signature wasteland/glam uniforms and LED lighting effects. The band mixes post-punk, disco, EDM, metal, and funk with Balkan brass and New Orleans second line sounds, and filters that through the medium of a massive street brass band with a punk rock sensibility.
The band was co-founded in 2014 by brass band scene veteran Phil Andrews and singer-songwriter Ellia Bisker. The real-life couple collaborates on each song, with Andrews composing the music and Bisker contributing lyrics. The project was conceived as a brass band from a future dystopia, dedicated to bringing hope to the survivors: in this post-apocalyptic world, the only bands left are those that can play without electricity or sound equipment. The music of the apocalypse isn’t death metal—it’s brass. Each of the songs addresses that audience in a different way--from the examination of loss and despair to the collective catharsis of high energy dance music.
Based in Brooklyn has played a wide variety of venues, festivals, and events throughout NYC and beyond. Notable examples include underground art party series Rubulad and Gemini & Scorpio, immersive events at the McKittrick Hotel (home of the wildly popular Sleep No More), cultural institutions such as the New York Botanical Garden and the Queens Museum, the EDM festival Mysteryland USA in Woodstock, NY, the O+ Festival in Kingston, NY, the annual Sinterklaas celebration in Rhinebeck, NY, the World Maker Faire, opening for World/Inferno Friendship Society at the Mercury Lounge, and HONK brass band festivals in NYC, Providence, RI, and Austin, TX.
Funkrust’s debut album, Dark City, was released in 2017, and an ambitious song and video cycle entitled Bones and Burning was released in late 2019.
The Riverkeeper Fish Migration Celebration is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
This year's Big Green Theater program was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.