Along the Gowanus Canal, a century-old power station has found new purpose as one of Brooklyn’s most ambitious creative institutions. Powerhouse Arts (PHA), a 170,000-square-foot non-profit creative production center that opened in 2023 in the former Brooklyn Rapid Transit Central Power Station, provides artists with large-scale fabrication facilities, studio access, and public programming built to sustain creative practice in New York City.
A Power Plant, a Squat, and a Rescue
The building at 322 Third Avenue began its life in 1904 as the Central Power Station of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, designed by engineer Thomas Edward Murray to supply electricity to Brooklyn’s expanding trolley and subway network. Coal barged in along the canal was hauled through an underground tunnel to feed the turbines. The station operated for decades before being decommissioned in the 1950s; its companion Boiler House was demolished, leaving only the Turbine Hall standing.
What followed was nearly fifty years of limbo. The building sat empty, then became a hotspot for graffiti writers, underground parties, and, in the early 2000s, an organized squatter community that gave the place its enduring nickname: the Batcave. A redevelopment attempt in the mid-2000s cleared the squatters but never materialized, and the building drifted back into use as an unofficial art and party space for another stretch of years.
In 2012, philanthropist Joshua Rechnitz purchased the derelict structure for $7 million, initially imagining it as artist studios. Years of conversations with local artists redirected the vision toward something more specific and, at the time, harder to find in New York: a facility built for fabrication, the actual making of large-scale art, rather than just studio space. Pritzker Prize–winning Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, known for adaptive reuse projects like London’s Tate Modern (also a former power station), was brought on in 2016 to lead the design, working alongside preservation specialists PBDW Architects.
The renovation, ultimately costing roughly $180 million, was a technical undertaking as much as an artistic one. Crews pumped out extensive groundwater, remediated soil polluted from decades of fossil-fuel use, and stabilized a basement that once housed the turbines. When the project team wanted to preserve a piece of the building’s graffiti history, a mural reading “You Go Girl”, they had workers number the individual bricks, disassemble the wall to install steel reinforcements, and rebuild it afterward. A local concrete plant developed a custom red-dyed mix, later power-washed for an aged look, so that new construction would match the century-old brick. The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building a city landmark in 2019, mid-construction. Powerhouse Arts formally opened in May 2023.
Fabrication as the Heart of the Mission
Powerhouse Arts’ central distinction in New York’s cultural landscape is its world-class fabrication capacity, a resource that has grown increasingly scarce as real estate costs push industrial production out of the city. The facility offers fee-based fabrication services in Ceramics (wheel-throwing, slip casting, kiln firing, 3D ceramic printing), Print (screen printing and large-format digital print), and full-lifecycle Public Art fabrication spanning design, build, installation, and de-installation.
The facility also houses specialized partner entities and shared facilities:
- The Alpha Workshops: A decorative arts workshop producing handmade wallpaper and hand-dyed textiles while providing decorative arts training for individuals living with disabilities.
- Workspace11: Specialized fabricators providing architectural and design metalwork.
- Community Studios: The Community Ceramics Studio and MGC Community Print Studio offer broad membership access to professional equipment, materials, and technical support.
- Education & Public Programs: In addition to artist subsidies and an Artist-in-Residence Program, PHA hosts work-based learning, public workshops, and operates the on-site PHA Store, a gallery presenting works for acquisition from its print and ceramic publishing programs.
Revenue generated from event space rentals, including the column-free, 22,517-square-foot Grand Hall, directly supports the organization’s non-profit mission and artist community programs.
On View: The Ark
Powerhouse Arts is currently presenting The Ark (running through August 30, 2026) in the Grand Hall. Curated by artist Eric Fischl alongside PHA President Eric Shiner, the exhibition expands on an earlier iteration first shown at The Church in Sag Harbor. Featuring 89 animal sculptures and installations by artists including Kiki Smith, Maurizio Cattelan, Wangechi Mutu, François-Xavier Lalanne, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, the exhibition uses animal form and material exploration to address themes of environmental stewardship, vulnerability, and interspecies connection beside the Gowanus Canal. The exhibition inaugurates a new year-round curatorial program led by Shiner, VP of Curatorial and Arts Programs Liz Munsell, and Associate Curator Constanza Valenzuela, accompanied by family scavenger hunts, “Crafternoon” workshops, and community programming supported by Hermès.
Related Places
- The Old Stone House: Located a short walk away in Park Slope, this reconstructed 17th-century Dutch farmhouse and Revolutionary War historic site regularly partners with Powerhouse Arts on community art-making and family programming.
- Gowanus Canal: A walk along the canal offers direct context for Powerhouse Arts’ mission, showcasing the ongoing transformation of an industrial Superfund waterway into a center for ecological restoration and creative practice.
Side Dish
Third Avenue and its surrounding blocks have become one of Brooklyn’s more interesting places to eat, a mix of old-guard industrial-chic spots and newer arrivals. Runner & Stone, half bakery and half restaurant, is worth a stop for its bread alone, with a lunch menu of sandwiches that rotates often. For something brighter, Claro serves Oaxacan-inspired dishes: tostadas, aguachile, memelas on housemade masa in a plant-strung backyard that’s especially pleasant in summer. And if a quick, casual bite is more the mood, Nene’s Taqueria does birria in taco, ramen, and even pizza form from a small, efficiently run counter. Powerhouse Arts also recently opened its own onsite café, serving Devoción coffee alongside sandwiches and salads from AMAH and pastries from Bien Cuit — open Tuesday through Sunday, a good place to start or end a visit.
Visit
Powerhouse Arts is located at 322 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215. The Ark runs through August 30, 2026, in the Grand Hall.
- Hours: Wed/Thu 12–7pm, Fri 12–8pm, Sat 11am–8pm, Sun 11am–5pm (closed Mon/Tue)
- Tickets: Adults $18, Kids (3–12) $5, Seniors/Military/Disabilities $12, Students $10
The lobby and café are open to the public during posted hours; the fabrication studios are accessible by appointment, membership, or programmed event.
Featured Photo: Powerhouse Arts Facade, by Albert Vecerka
By Jamie Kaup
