Alliance Partners with Arts Group to Bring Verve to Streetscape
Empty storefronts along the Nassau Street retail corridor are hosting working artists for the holiday season, in a project cosponsored by the Downtown Alliance and Art on the Avenue, a nonprofit that activates New York streetscapes by transforming vacant shops into public-facing galleries where local artists have the opportunity to exhibit work.
Launched this past Saturday, the Art Above the Mantel program will run for six weeks, through the end of December. The visual motif reinterpreted across all the spaces will be a fireplace mantel, invoked as a symbol of warmth, home and holidays.
All participating storefronts (four on Nassau Street, one on John Street, and two interior spaces at 28 Liberty) will be converted into a “white box,” containing a mantelpiece that the artist will embellish in their own style. Each artist will create a signature piece to go above the mantel, along with other smaller pieces—all viewable to passersby. Featured art will be available for purchase.
Locations for Art Above the Mantel include 72 and 80 Nassau Street, two stores at 33 Maiden Lane (with entrances on Nassau Street), 25 John Street, and pair of spaces at 28 Liberty Street (formerly known as Chase Plaza).
Art Above the Mantel will also pair the installations with festivities and creative activities, such as live painting, musical performances, holiday markets and other art related activities, on Wednesdays (4pm to 7pm) and Saturdays (1pm to 4pm).
Among the artists whose work is now on display are Lucas Goly, a self-taught painter, illustrator, and digital artist based in Bedford-Stuyvesant; Jon Souza (work at right), a Harlem-born Brazilian-American graffiti/mural artist who focuses on using art and as a medium for education, social justice and community building; and Barry Mason, whose medium is sculpted, geometric abstract paintings.
“This holiday season, we are bringing art and cheer to empty storefronts along Nassau Street,” says Downtown Alliance president Jessica Lappin. “These pop-up galleries, created by local New York City artists, should brighten up both shop windows and our spirits.”