ArtBridge Marks Its Final Installation of Public Art at NYCHA Developments
Over the course of 10 months, more than 50 new public artworks were installed on construction fencing and sidewalk sheds at 16 NYCHA developments as part of ArtBridge’s Bridging the Divide program, in which local artists created temporary art to reflect the lives, histories, and aspirations of NYCHA residents. The final installation was completed in March at Baruch Houses, and most of the 50 installations throughout the city will remain on display through August 2023 for all community members to enjoy.
On April 19, ArtBridge held a celebration at Taft Houses to mark the completion of the project, which was attended by New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Laurie Cumbo, NYCHA’s Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt, ArtBridge artists, and NYCHA residents.
“NYCHA’s collaboration with ArtBridge has given residents the opportunity to see their stories and ideas reflected in incredible artwork,” said NYCHA’s Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “Through a participatory process with local artists, residents help design and create pieces that beautify NYCHA developments while celebrating the exceptional talents and contributions of the hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers living in public housing.”
Bridging the Divide was funded by City Artist Corps, a $25 million program created by NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and the Mayor’s Office to provide relief to New York’s arts community and help reinvigorate arts and culture as part of the City’s recovery from the pandemic. It was also made possible by the City Canvas program, an initiative of DCLA, the Mayor’s Office, and the Department of Buildings that transforms temporary construction sheds and fencing into platforms for public art.
“New York City is home to the most extraordinary creative talent in the world, and nowhere is that more evident — and underappreciated — than among our NYCHA residents,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “I applaud the artists and residents who worked together to bring these incredible artworks to public spaces across the city, and I encourage all New Yorkers to check them out in the months ahead.”
ArtBridge held a citywide open call and commissioned 50 local artists, 19 of whom were NYCHA residents. As part of the fellowship, the artists held hundreds of art workshops and community events with NYCHA residents and ultimately created 50 site-specific works, producing public murals that altogether span nearly two miles in length. “The City Artist Corps program started with the intention to provide relief to artists and reinvigorate communities in New York City through public art; it has since grown into a program rich with community engagement, quality arts programming, and professional development,” said Jon Souza, ArtBridge’s Director of Programs. “The production of these 50 murals has opened the doors for future programs that recognize the value of art as a means to engage communities through creativity and collaboration.”
Participating NYCHA developments included Baruch, Polo Grounds, Taft, and Lillian Wald in Manhattan; Brownsville, Howard, Ingersoll, Red Hook East, and Red Hook West in Brooklyn; Adams and Mitchel in The Bronx; Astoria, Pomonok, and Woodside in Queens; and South Beach and Todt Hill on Staten Island.
Artists Ashley Crawford and Kenneth Tooley, residents of Ingersoll Houses in Brooklyn, and Imara Moore, a former resident of South Beach Houses in Staten Island spoke to The NYCHA Journal about their installations as part of the project. (See past NYCHA Journal coverage on Bridging the Divide NYCHA artists here.)
Ashley Crawford and Kenneth Tooley aka Canary Swords
“Run Wild” installed at Ingersoll Houses
Ingersoll Houses residents
Kenneth: I’ve lived at Ingersoll Houses my entire life and my wife moved in about seven years ago. We work as individual artists. I’m heavy into black and white illustration from comic books to realistic style. My wife is great with color, so that’s how we collaborate. (Check out his artwork here.)
Ashley: I paint portraits of surreal scenes that are Afro-surrealist and Afrofuturist. (Check out her artwork here.) During the pandemic I was looking for art opportunities, scouring the web for grants so that we were still able to create art and make money at the same time. I saw the open call on the NY Foundations for the Arts website and applied.
We did multiple sessions of art workshops at the Ingersoll Community Center. My husband conducted one in Fort Greene Park as an outreach collaboration with NYCHA resident Shaquana Boykin. We do an Art on the Fly, a workshop I started during the pandemic. We taught people color theory and pouring mediums so people can understand color mixing. Some of the things that the community members created, I took them and made them part of the overall mural we did, some surreal elements within the background that kind of play with the fluidity of the rest of the piece.
K: My grandmother Mary Tooley did a lot of community work and actually started the community center, so it was great to be able to do workshops there. I felt exhilarated when I saw our work up – a rush of creativity, and I felt more passionate, more engaged, and wanting to get more of my work out there. I’ve lived here for so long and to see my artwork and my wife’s artwork on a large display in the community, in front of my grandmother’s building, was surreal.
A: This is just the start for me, for us, of better things to come. It’s kind of cool when you’re two New Yorkers, two kids who used to go to art school. You get out of art school and wonder where your art is going to take you. To see that flow and take you to this opportunity, your artwork being displayed on a larger scale, it’s very surreal, like my husband said. It’s also very invigorating and makes me hopeful and anxious for what’s next – but anxious in a good way.
After the ArtBridge project, I applied to work with Thrive Collective and I’ve been doing murals around the city with them for about a year now. We’ve done two murals together where I unofficially contracted with him, but now he’s going to join me and work [on] them, too.
K: We’re also working on a book right now and that will be done by the summer. Be on the lookout.
Imara Moore
“Vibrancy” installed at South Beach Houses
Former South Beach Houses resident
I’m a photographer and visual illustrator. I grew up at South Beach Houses and lived there from birth to 17 years. I still have family that live there. I teach photography and digital art and illustration at the School of Visual Arts and a class for seniors at the New Lane Senior Center.
Through ArtBridge, I did workshops at the local community center. I did two workshops for children and two for adults. For the children, I taught them photography and we took pictures together. It was about exposing them to a little bit of the history of photography and how to take a good picture. For the adults, it was a more technique-based class, and I taught them about lighting. I took portraits while doing the workshops and through that I created a photo illustration of portraits of people in the neighborhood. I used silhouettes and the color palettes of what they had on that day as a driving force behind the silhouettes. I didn’t want anyone’s picture to be shown because then it becomes about the person, and I wanted the work to reflect the community. A lot of these projects are communities within communities, and I wanted to reflect their vibrance, color, saturation, and energy. It looks like a visual collage of the neighborhood and represents how everyone is connected and interwoven.
ArtBridge told me the day my piece was installed. I drove over with my husband and my son, and I was amazed. I felt proud to have been there, to be there. I was happy that it was reproduced so well. ArtBridge did a beautiful job installing it. As a creator, when you see something that you conceived executed it does something, it kind of changes. It was nice to be in a very familiar space and see a piece of me that I can give back.
Featured photo caption: From left to right: NYCHA Interim CEO Lisa Bova-Hiatt, Artist Coraima Santana, and New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Laurie Cumbo in front of “Resilient” by Coraima Santana.