Holy Ground: The Oyster
Engaging Artists
Holy Ground: The Oyster
Holy Ground: The Oyster is a site-responsive sound performance by Danielle Jagelski that activates Alan Michelson's large scale public artwork and explores the wisdom of the oyster, land, and human relationship to the Earth.
When
October 11, 2026
Two performances: at 2pm and 4pm
Where
Due to weather, both performances will take place at the American Indian Community House (AICH) on Governors Island at Nolan Park, Building 15
Danielle Olana Jagelski, photo by Dark Listed Photography.
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About the artist
Holy Ground: The Oyster is a site-responsive sound performance by Danielle Jagelski (Red Cliff Ojibwe and Oneida) that activates Alan Michelson’s large scale public artwork and explores the wisdom of the oyster, land, and human relationship to the Earth.
The work brings together voice, percussion, and spatial movement to create an immersive sonic experience rooted in land, ancestry, and collective gathering. Inspired by Indigenous traditions in which music, sound, storytelling, and ritual function as interconnected systems, the performance considers how these forms can serve as vessels for cultural continuity and communal reflection.
Performers:
Lorena Navarro (Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation), percussionist
Bo Shimmin (Pueblo of Acoma), tenor
Damian Norfleet, baritone
Holy Ground was selected via More Art’s 2025/26 Engaging Artists Commission open call, which supports early-career artists creating socially engaged work in the public realm.
The artist writes: “I am thrilled to be the awardee of the Emerging Artist Commission this year, and to have an opportunity to create work in a time of troubling artistic censorship and active efforts to sever the relationship between humanity and the earth. As an artist, I have never felt more motivated: we are the storytellers, historians, and knowledge-keepers right now. Holy Ground: The Oyster is integral in remembrance, hope, and activating our collective future.”
Header image: Danielle Jagelski, Holy Ground at Voices of Ascension/Church of the Ascension, video still by Four/Ten Media. Design/illustration by Shona Masarin.
Danielle Jagelski
Danielle Jagelski is a composer, conductor, and creative producer, and the Artistic Director and Co-founder of Renegade Opera.
Described by I Care If You Listen as “a prime example of socially responsive artistry in the 21st century,” her work has been presented nationwide at venues including Roulette Intermedium, the National Gallery of Art, and Performance Space New York.
An enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and Red Cliff Band of Ojibwe, Danielle centers collaboration with Indigenous artists and is deeply committed to kinship building and decolonial practice. She also serves as a consultant on equitable producing, working with institutions such as NYU, University of Portland, Handel and Haydn Society, and First Nations Performing Arts.
As a conductor, she is recognized for her work in contemporary repertoire by the National Opera Association with engagements including projects with International Contemporary Ensemble, Beth Morrison Projects, Harlem Opera Theatre, Voices of Ascension, and Anchorage Opera, among others.
Her recent commissions and upcoming commissions include Portland Opera, American Composers Forum, ChamberQUEER, Voices of Ascension, and New Native Theatre. Danielle is a recipient of the 2026 Opera America Discovery Grant, a First Peoples Fund Performing Arts Fellowship, More Art Engaging Artists Commission, and additional support from organizations including the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and Opera America.
daniellejagelski.com
Lorena Navarro is a percussionist, educator, and composer. She performs regularly as a solo, chamber, and orchestral percussionist. She has had the honor of sharing the stage with members from Sō Percussion, Sandbox Percussion, Bang on a Can All Stars, Akropolis Reed Quintet, and the Parker Quartet. As an educator, Lorena serves as the Visiting Assistant Instructor of Percussion at the University of Central Missouri. As a composer, she explores writing for percussion and mixed chamber ensembles. Her snare drum solo, “toe-ness” will be premiered by Genevieve Hilburn at the 2026 Percussive Arts Society International Convention in November. She premiered her first solo written for marimba at the 2024 Gather Listen Hear Festival at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. She currently arranges for the UCM marching percussion section and has previously written for the MSU Spartan Drumline. For 9 months, Lorena was invited to study with Keiko Abe, world-renowned marimba virtuoso, at Toho Gakuen School of Music in Japan. Lorena earned her D.M.A. and M.M. in Music Performance from Michigan State University and a B.S. in Music Education from Utah Valley University.
Bo Shimmin is a vocalist and tenor from the Pueblo of Acoma whose work spans opera, recital, and contemporary vocal performance. He is committed to expanding the vocal canon and uplifting contemporary Indigenous voices. He frequently collaborates with other composers and is currently developing new operatic works that center Native experiences and histories. A two-time Fulbright grantee to Italy, he has built an international career rooted in both classical training and cultural advocacy.
In addition to his performance work, Shimmin has been involved in educational outreach. He is the founder and director of NDN Opera, a Native-led operatic touring initiative sharing live music throughout Indian Country to nurture the next generation of performing artists. He holds degrees from DePauw University and has received further training at the University of Michigan, Arizona State University, and the Luigi Cherubini Conservatory. He has performed with companies including Perseverance Theatre, Arizona Opera, Opera Montana, Dell’arte Opera Ensemble, and the Lyceum Club in Florence, Italy. He is a 2026 recipient of Native Arts + Cultures Foundation LIFT: Early Career Support for Native Artists award.
Performer-composer Damian Norfleet “is a gifted improvisational singer, performance artist, actor, and social justice activist who has occupied a rare multi-dimensional space in the performing arts.” – I Care If You Listen
You can learn more about the artist at damiannorfleet.com.
Holy Ground is commissioned and produced by More Art, and co-presented with Governors Island Arts.
The project is supported in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the Native Arts + Cultures Foundation, and the New Music USA Creator Fund (supported by the Claudette Sorel Endowment for Women in Music), with additional support from the American Indian Community House (AICH).