Ligget Hall, early 20th century barracks on Governors Island

Governors Island is a strange place. Renamed from Nutten Island in 1784 when it was reserved for use, exclusively, by New York's royal governors, it has spent most of the subsequent time in the service of the armed forces. The Army, many of whose barracks still stand, utilized the place for a variety of purposes until 1966 when the Coast Guard took over. Thirty years after that, when the Guard closed its base to cut costs, the Island was sold to the State of New York for a single, symbolic dollar. Now it hosts its first art festival, opening on Saturday. Organized by Creative Time, This World & Nearer Ones is the first installment of New York's "first public art quadrennial," featuring nineteen new works installed all over the island's 82 acres. Artists showing new work include: Edgar Arceneaux, AA Bronson and Peter Hobbs, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Adam Chodzko, Tue Greenfort, Jill Magid, Teresa Margolles, Anthony McCall, Nils Norman, Susan Philipsz, Patti Smith and Jesse Smith, Tercerunquinto, Tris Vonna-Michell, Mark Wallinger, Klaus Weber, Lawrence Weiner, Judi Werthein, Guido van der Werve, and Krzysztof Wodiczko.