City as Living Laboratory

What City as Living Laboratory does

City as Living Laboratory (CALL) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2000 (foundation documents cite 2009 in some sources) by artist Mary Miss, headquartered at 349 Greenwich Street in Manhattan. The organization operates a programmatic platform that pairs artists with scientists and community members to make urban environmental systems - buried waterways, flood infrastructure, watersheds, and ecological dynamics - visible and actionable through public art, walking tours, workshops, and installed projects. Its core methodology follows a four-stage framework: CALL/WALKS (community-led walks), CALL/WORKSHOPS, CALL/PROPOSALS, and CALL/PROJECTS, deployed in flagship initiatives including WaterMarks in Milwaukee, Rescuing Tibbetts Brook in the Bronx, Cloudburst/WaterWays in Corona, Queens, Chinatown Projects, Head Above the Water in Washington D.C., and Broadway: 1000 Steps.

CALL's revenue model is a nonprofit mix of institutional grants (NSF, NEA, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Joseph Robert Foundation, Graham Foundation, Peter T. Joseph Foundation), individual donations and sponsorships (including a $50,000 leadership gift from Agnes Gund), ticketed event revenue (CALL/Conversations series), and a nascent consulting line for cities and businesses. Programs are delivered free to community participants through partnerships with cultural institutions, libraries, parks, schools, and municipal agencies. The organization employs 1-10 staff and reaches audiences across multiple U.S. cities including New York, Milwaukee, Washington D.C., and Indianapolis. Distribution is primarily through community programming, a monthly newsletter (CALL CONNECTS), a website resource library, and a growing national partner-institution network.

The organization has produced documented civic outcomes including NYC DEP's formal designation of Tibbetts Brook for daylighting, a mayoral proclamation of WaterMarks Day in Milwaukee, and the engagement of ~95 volunteers in collectively embroidered public artworks. CALL is currently navigating a 2025 federal funding shock (NSF/NEA grant terminations totaling approximately $250,000) while diversifying toward private philanthropy and packaged methodology products (the CALL/WALKS toolkit and a forthcoming ORO Editions book).

Name

City as Living Laboratory

Legal name

City as Living Laboratory

Website

https://cityaslivinglab.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

City as Living Laboratory is a New York-based nonprofit that pairs artists with scientists and urban communities to create public art and programming that reveals hidden environmental and water infrastructure systems, serving municipalities, residents, and cultural institutions across multiple U.S. cities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Arts and Environmental Education

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (541320), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Education, Capacity Building & Community Engagement (BPADALAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable Cities, Urban Development & Green Infrastructure (BPADALAL), Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO)

Keywords

• Community environmental art
• Public art programs
• Environmental education walks
• Urban sustainability initiatives
• Artist scientist partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Foundation Funding: CALL receives substantial grant funding from major institutional funders including the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and foundations such as the Graham Foundation, Joseph Robert Foundation, and Peter T. Joseph Foundation. In 2021, a $2.8 million NSF grant was awarded in partnership with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for the WaterMarks project.
2. Individual Donations and Sponsorships: CALL receives individual donations from a broad donor base including sponsors (e.g., Thomas Bishop, Susanna Church, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Charles McKinney) and contributors. A major leadership gift of $50,000 was made by Agnes Gund. Donations are solicited through newsletters, direct appeals, and year-end campaigns.
3. Event Revenue: CALL generates revenue through ticket sales for CALL/Conversations events, with ticket costs being tax-deductible. Ticket prices support programming and operational costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

City as Living Laboratory (CALL) is a nonprofit arts organization that pairs artists with scientists and community members to create public art projects, walking tours, and workshops that reveal urban environmental and infrastructure systems. Its core methodology follows a sequential four-stage framework — CALL/WALKS, CALL/Workshops, CALL/Proposals, and CALL/Projects — implemented through city-scale initiatives such as WaterMarks (Milwaukee), Rescuing Tibbetts Brook (Bronx), and the Cloudburst/WaterWays Project (Queens). The organization also provides consulting services to cities, businesses, and partner institutions seeking to engage communities around local environmental challenges.

Product overview

City as Living Laboratory (CALL) is a nonprofit arts organization that operates as a platform of interconnected programs rather than a single unified product. The core offering consists of four sequential programs—CALL/WALKS (walking experiences), CALL/WORKSHOPS (community gatherings), CALL/PROPOSALS (artist concepts), and CALL/PROJECTS (implemented initiatives)—designed to bring together artists, scientists, and communities to address environmental sustainability. Major initiatives include WaterMarks in Milwaukee, Rescuing Tibbetts Brook in the Bronx, the Cloudburst/WaterWays project in Corona, Queens, Broadway: 1000 Steps, and various Chinatown projects. These are complemented by resource materials including the CALL/WALKS toolkit for community use.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CALL/WALKS: Public programs featuring artist and scientist-led community walks exploring environmental and social concerns of local communities
• CALL/Workshops
• CALL/Proposals
• CALL/Projects
• WaterMarks
• Rescuing Tibbetts Brook
• Cloudburst/WaterWays

Products and services

• CALL/WALKS Community walking programs where artists paired with scientists or environmental experts lead public walks exploring local environmental concerns and ecological issues in urban neighborhoods. Free to community participants.
• CALL/Workshops In-depth community workshops bringing together 30-40 community representatives with artists, designers, scientists, and experts to explore local environmental challenges and generate arts-based project ideas.
• CALL/Projects Artist-led environmental projects that address local sustainability concerns, ranging from small community interventions to large-scale urban initiatives.
• Broadway: 1000 Steps Precedent project initiated by Mary Miss in 2013 along New York City's Broadway, re-envisioning the street as a Green Corridor with 20 hubs and street-level installations investigating sustainability.
• WaterWays / Cloudburst Project Initiative addressing cloudburst flooding in Corona, Queens, partnering with NYC DEP and New York Botanical Garden to engage communities around water infrastructure and climate resilience.
• Rescuing Tibbetts Brook Project calling attention to daylighting Tibbetts Brook in the Bronx, channeling it along an abandoned railroad line into the Harlem River to create a linear park.
• WaterMarks Urban-scaled initiative for Milwaukee helping citizens understand their relationships to water systems and infrastructure through a dispersed series of artist-led projects.
• Chinatown Projects Ecological and cultural landscape projects in Manhattan Chinatown addressing food systems, traditional Chinese medicine, and environmental justice concerns.
• Head Above the Water Environmental and flood risk awareness project in Anacostia, DC focused on honoring water through creative expression and community engagement.
• CALL/WALKS Toolkit Published toolkit that enables partner institutions across multiple cities to independently conduct CALL/WALKS community walking programs in their own communities.
• Consulting Services Consulting services provided to businesses, cities, and other organizations seeking support in using CALL/WALKS methodology to engage community members in local environmental advocacy.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95 volunteers from the Bronx and beyond contributed to the Tibbetts Estuary Tapestry, a collectively embroidered public artwork measuring 15 feet long and 6 feet tall.
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 October 2021UWM and CALL received a $2.8 million NSF grant in 2021 to launch WaterMarks, a multidimensional environmental learning project in Milwaukee featuring illuminated beacon structures and collaborative programming to rally the public around water stewardship. This is CALL's largest and longest-running project.
• New York Botanical GardencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe New York Botanical Garden partnered with CALL on the Cloudburst Project, supporting urban conservation and ecological education initiatives in Corona, Queens. Urban ecologist Eric Sanderson (Vice President for Urban Conservation at NYBG) co-led walks with founder Mary Miss.
• Cultural Landscape FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharles Birnbaum, Founder and CEO of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, participated in CALL/Conversations Part 1, discussing Mary Miss's Greenwood Pond: Double Site project. The Cultural Landscape Foundation focuses on landscape architecture education and advocacy.
• NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNYC DEP partnered with CALL on the Cloudburst Project in Corona, Queens, where the neighborhood was designated as a Cloudburst site. DEP's Cloudburst Management Program aims to mitigate urban flooding. CALL supports DEP's community engagement and public education efforts.
• Queens MuseumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Queens Museum served as a partner site for the Entre El Aire y El Agua event as part of the Cloudburst/WaterWays initiative. The museum's New York City Watershed Relief Map was used as a culminating venue for the water parade procession.
• Kingsbridge Heights Community Center (KHCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKHCC partnered with CALL for the Visions of Tibbetts Brook project (summer 2022) and Dennis RedMoon Darkeem's after-school workshops with the Teen Program (starting 2025), engaging Bronx youth in art-making related to Tibbetts Brook.
• Milwaukee City GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMilwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson proclaimed November 12, 2024 as WaterMarks Day, officially recognizing the WaterMarks initiative. The city government collaborates with CALL on water stewardship programming and the installation of WaterMarker artworks.
• LongHouse ReserveminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongHouse honored Mary Miss with the 2024 Larsen Landscape Award at their Landscape Legends event, featuring presentations by notable landscape and design professionals.
• Des Moines Art CenterminorOthersThe Des Moines Art Center originally housed Mary Miss's landmark 1996 environmental sculpture Greenwood Pond: Double Site. The removal of this work from the collection became a subject of CALL/Conversations Part 1.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Forecast: Berlin-based platform supporting art and culture addressing ecological and climate challenges. Directly comparable to CALL in the explicit intersection of artist-led practice, environmental sustainability, and community engagement.
• More Art: New York-based nonprofit engaging communities through artist-led projects that explore social and environmental themes. Comparable to CALL in mission, scale, and community-engaged public art practice, particularly around urban environmental issues.
• A Blade of Grass: NYC-based nonprofit that funds and supports socially engaged art. Comparable to CALL as a similarly oriented arts organization focused on art practice addressing social and environmental concerns, operating with similar nonprofit funding model.
• Creative Time: NYC-based nonprofit that commissions and presents public art projects addressing social and environmental issues. Directly comparable to CALL as a similarly sized arts nonprofit producing artist-led public engagement programming with social/environmental themes in New York City.
• Flux Projects: Atlanta-based nonprofit producing temporary public art projects that engage communities. Comparable to CALL in producing place-based, community-engaged public art addressing local urban and environmental concerns through artist commissions.
• The Natural History Museum: NYC-based social practice art organization whose work centers on environmental themes. Comparable to CALL as a similarly sized arts nonprofit using artist-led projects to address ecological and environmental concerns in urban communities.
• Culture Push: NYC-based nonprofit supporting artists working at the intersection of art and social practice. Comparable to CALL in supporting artist-led experimentation addressing social and environmental issues through community-engaged programming.

Broad incumbents

• Public Art Fund: Larger NYC-based nonprofit commissioning and presenting ambitious public art across the city. Comparable to CALL as a peer in the NYC public art nonprofit ecosystem, though significantly larger in scope, budget, and institutional reach.
• Project for Public Spaces: Established nonprofit focused on placemaking and community engagement in public spaces. Comparable to CALL in methodology around community-centered environmental and urban design work, but operates at significantly larger scale and broader scope.

Emerging players

• ecoartspace: Platform and community dedicated to art addressing environmental issues. Comparable to CALL as an emerging organization in the eco-art space, though smaller in operational scale and primarily a curatorial platform rather than a program-delivery nonprofit.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CityAsLivingLab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about City as Living Laboratory