NYC and ArtBridge Bringing More Art to NYCHA

The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and partners recently announced details for City Artist Corps, including how it will support local artists and provide opportunities for New Yorkers to engage with cultural programming starting this summer. This historic $25 million investment in artists, announced by Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Gonzalo Casals in May, will contribute to the city’s ongoing recovery and offer New Yorkers opportunities to engage with cultural programming in all five boroughs.

“As New York City begins to re-open, we are seeing more and more people out on our streets, rediscovering what made them fall in love with our city in the first place,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Vicki Been. “The talent lent to us by the City Artist Corps will further beautify this place we call home. With murals designed by local artists spread throughout the five boroughs and performers permeating our streets with their talent, our city’s recovery will be more palpable and personal than ever before.”

One of the several City Artist Corps initiatives is focused on art at NYCHA developments. NYCHA and the nonprofit ArtBridge will commission 60 artists to install temporary public murals and other artwork on sidewalk sheds and construction fencing throughout the city’s public housing system. ArtBridge will build on their program Bridging the Divide, which consists of artist fellowships at NYCHA developments throughout the city in which artists design temporary public artworks that reflect the lives, histories, and aspirations of NYCHA residents. Artworks will be affixed to construction fencing and sheds that are currently up at each of the locations, as made possible through DCLA’s City Canvas pilot initiative. Applications are due June 28. Learn more and access the application.

“The City Canvas program has brought engaging public art and cultural programming to thousands of public housing residents across New York City,” said NYCHA Chair & CEO Greg Russ. “We are excited to see this initiative expand to more campuses – and look forward to the artistic collaborations that will be fostered between the city’s creative community and NYCHA residents through this invaluable support.”

“The City Artist Corps will allow us to dramatically increase the scale and impact of ArtBridge’s Bridging the Divide program, which empowers local artists to amplify the diverse voices of NYCHA’s 400,000 residents,” said Stephen Pierson, Executive Director of ArtBridge. “Over the next six months we will work with 60 artists at 30 NYCHA sites in all 5 boroughs, producing more than 200 engagement events between artists and residents, paying 140 NYCHA residents to facilitate this engagement, and ultimately creating more than 45,000 square feet of public art. The program will empower hyper-local artists to be community-builders, supporting the voices of NYCHA residents city-wide.” 

Photo caption: A recent ArtBridge project on a sidewalk shed at Fulton Houses in Manhattan.