30+ ideas for your to-do list.
The Luminary Labs team is a curious bunch. We enjoy trying new things, going to new places, and venturing out of our comfort zones. Increasing temperatures bring a boundless energy, encouraging all of us to check things off our very long summer to-do lists.
This year, we’re sharing a few of the new things Luminaries want to try before summer ends. New experiences often spark new ways of thinking; we offer our personal lists as inspiration for your next big idea — or, at the very least, a chance to make this summer a little different from all the others. From staying at home and exploring the city to venturing outside of New York, there’s something here for everyone.
Staycationing
CEO Sara Holoubek will be learning the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi and repairing a broken plate.
President Janna Gilbert is looking forward to growing vegetables with her daughter. She is excited to plant and harvest a first batch of vegetables — and then maybe expand her garden in future years.
Every summer, Head of Content and Community Jessica Hibbard likes to grow a new vegetable; sometimes it’s something she hasn’t even tried eating before. This year, she is planting cucamelon seeds. These tiny, tart cucumbers are sometimes called “mouse melons.” With any luck, she will be able to convince her nieces and nephew that she’s growing watermelons for the chipmunks and squirrels.
Senior Communications Associate Harrison Diskin will be trying out a new (old) 35mm film camera that used to belong to Jessica.
Senior Communications Associate Naomi Naik will be hosting her first clothing swap party for her (hopefully) best-dressed friends in the city.
Exploring the city
Future of Health Director Ben Alsdurf is hoping to check out a concert at Little Island and sunset sail aboard the Shearwater.
Senior Associate Cameron Fox will be planning his visit to The Met Cloisters at Fort Tryon Park.
Workplace Experience Associate Dalana Kellman will be kayaking at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Boathouse off Pier 4 Beach.
Senior Director Jon Roberts looks forward to exploring the many layers of Inwood Hill Park, home to Manhattan’s only natural forest and salt marsh. In addition to some of the best summer birding in NYC, he’s excited to join rangers on nature walks and mushroom ID hikes, and see a unique Native American and multicultural festival in early June.
Associate Maeser Allen wants to complete the Great Saunter, the 32-mile walk along the perimeter of Manhattan, early this summer before it gets too hot. He also looks forward to attending a couple of free City Parks SummerStage shows, especially Marisa Monte and other Brazilian and Portuguese artists performing on July 2.
Senior Communications Associate (and retired intramural player) Naomi Naik may finally join a soccer league.
Senior Associate Natalia Allen is excited to go biking at Shirley Chisholm State Park in Brooklyn.
Senior Talent Associate Olivia Anderle can’t wait to check out Rooftop Cinema Club in Midtown.
CEO and Founder Sara Holoubek will be exploring the city: visiting the Conservatory Garden in Central Park, treasure-hunting at the newly reopened Century 21 store in FiDi, and checking out the American Museum of Natural History’s new scientific wing (formally called the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation).
Design Manager Winnie Chang will be trying her hand at tapestry weaving through a Prospect Heights Brainery workshop.
Head of Business Operations Karen Wong hopes to have a summer of dance: Summer for the City: Social Dance at Lincoln Center, as well as Bollywood & Bhangra and Sunset Salsa in Hudson River Park.
Getting out of town
Senior Associate Cameron Fox will be learning to fish for muskellunge (also known as the “fish of 10,000 casts”) on the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York.
Senior Associate Carthur Wan is going airboating and alligator-spotting in New Orleans.
Workplace Experience Associate Dalana Kellman dreams of getting on the Bali swing and finally going to a Night Lights Sky Lantern Festival. She wants to celebrate her late loved ones by writing their names on a lantern and watching the light float away alongside thousands of others in the night sky.
Director Eden Baker will be visiting the Magazzino Italian Art museum in Cold Spring, New York.
Head of Communications Emily Coombs will be learning how to golf at Rollingstone Ranch Golf Club in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.
Head of Business Operations Karen Wong will be taking the Seastreak ferry to Sandy Hook beach, Nantucket, or Martha’s Vineyard.
Engagement Manager Logan Cummings is going to visit Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, New York.
Communications Manager Mercedes de Guardiola is looking forward to going on a book tour for her first book on the history of eugenics in Vermont.
Friends of Design Manager Winnie Chang are organizing a “backpacking 101” trip for her and others who are new to camping.
Photos by David Vives, Riho Kitagawa, Zoha Kidwai, and Jack Cohen.
