Construction Walls to Host New Murals in Lower Manhattan
This spring, watch for temporary, large-scale public art exhibitions to appear at Lower Manhattan construction sites.
As development ramps up at 250 Water Street, a three-part exhibition called “Views from the Seaport” by artists Blanka Amezkua, Ebony Bolt, and Steve Ellis will be installed on the construction sheds. Each artist was offered one side of the site.
Ms. Amezkua will hand paint the mural “My Joy/Your Joy,” designed in collaboration with fifth graders from the Peck Slip School, onto 200 feet of construction shed. The artwork will feature painted examples of the students’ papel picado—using a traditional Mexican paper cutting technique—that she taught in school workshops.
Ebony Bolt’s mural “All Year Round” is a digital artwork printed on vinyl that reflects the architecture of the Seaport through the seasons. It will be located on the Pearl Street side of the site. “Pigeon Brain Musings,” on the Beekman Street side of the site, will offer sketches of the Seaport from the perspective of a pigeon, and is Lower Manhattan artist Steve Ellis’s contribution to the exhibition.
The nonprofit organization ArtBridge, which partners with communities and artists to transform construction sites into exhibitions that reflect local neighborhoods, worked with the Howard Hughes Corp. and City Canvas, an initiative of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, to beautify the 250 Water Street site. ArtBridge also helped guide the decoration of 1,100 linear feet of construction fencing that will surround Wagner Park (photo above) and the northern edge of the Battery through next year while resiliency measures are under construction.
Muralists Davina Hsu and Michelle Weinberg were selected by jurors Natalie Kates and Sadaf Padder in coordination with leadership at the Battery Park City Authority, the City’s Parks Department, the City’s Economic Development Corporation, the Battery, and ArtBridge.
Ms. Hsu’s piece will be called “Blessing Transmission,” while Ms. Weinberg’s will be titled “River Semaphore.” These works were selected from 92 proposals, submitted last autumn, when the BPCA issued a solicitation for artists. The artists will be paid $10,000 each for their work, which will be installed later this spring.
“Blessing Transmission” will be a a large-scale vinyl canvas, displaying digitally generated frequency patterns. Ms. Hsu says her inspiration, “is focused around the idea of resiliency—resiliency both for the environment and for social well-being. I always want to create a sense of hope, curiosity, and magic.”
“River Semaphore” seeks to focus attention to New York City’s built environment in relation to the rising tides of the Hudson River. Ms. Weinberg, who will layer imagery of floating banners in front of river views, says, “the thing I love most about public art is that I get to address an audience of people who are not expecting to interact with art.”