Nature of New York   Bringing Hidden Histories Back Into the Landscape

Long before Manhattan became the city we know today before the skyline, the trains, and the streets this land was home to the Lenape people, the original inhabitants of Manhattan.

My name is Jose Carmona, and I am a visual and immersive artist from Inwood, Manhattan working with augmented reality (AR) to create public storytelling experiences rooted in history, place, and community.

For the past year, I have been developing Nature of NY, a free public augmented reality walking experience inside Inwood Hill Park that reimagines Lenape life and the early colonial history of Manhattan through immersive digital art.

Using a mobile device, visitors will be able to walk through the park and activate site-specific AR scenes that appear directly within the landscape. These experiences will reveal moments of Lenape daily life, cultural presence, and the historical exchange between the Lenape and Dutch settlers that forever changed Manhattan.

Nature of NY transforms the natural environment of Inwood Hill Park into a real-time mixed media exhibition allowing visitors to experience hidden histories in the exact places where they unfolded.