Renderings by Focus Lighting

Harlem-based architectural lighting firm Focus Lighting has worked on some pretty impressive projects here in NYC, from the Times Square ball to the Waldorf Astoria. But they’re also getting involved in their local community, thinking about how they can transform the Riverside Drive Viaduct–a 50-foot-tall elevated steel roadway that runs from 125th to 135th Streets. As the firm notes, during the day, the structure’s grand arches serve as a picturesque background to the neighborhood and the Hudson River, but at night, they “go completely unlit and unutilized.” Their proposal, called The Arches of Harlem, seeks to incorporate a new programmable lighting composition every three months, each one “inspired by select works of historic artists and emerging local talent.”

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Image via Governor Cuomo’s Flickr

Despite garnering the most votes in a public poll, Mother Frances Cabrini will not be memorialized as part of the She Built NYC program run by First Lady Chirlane McCray. Controversy has followed the decision to not include Cabrini in recent days, with Mayor Bill de Blasio stepping in to suggest she would be a contender in future editions of the program during The Brian Lehrer Show last Friday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo responded by calling the decision an “affront” to the Italian-American community. During Monday’s Columbus Day Parade, the governor announced a new state commission that will lead the creation of a separate memorial for Cabrini.

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Projection at Rockefeller Center. For The City © 2005 Jenny Holzer, courtesy of Artists Rights Society (ARS)

Artist Jenny Holzer—known for her practice of displaying text in the public sphere—is partnering with Creative Time for the third time on a new public art project at Rockefeller Center. VIGIL is a series of light projections addressing gun violence in America through first-hand accounts, poems, and responses by Americans who have had to reckon with the everyday reality of gun violence. The words will be beamed across the iconic Midtown destination each night from October 10 to 12 beginning at 8 p.m.

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Rendering of + POOL Light. Designed by PlayLab and Family New York. Image courtesy Friends of + POOL

Designed by PLAYLAB, INC. and Family New York in collaboration with Floating Point, a new project from the team behind the +POOL concept makes it possible for anyone to visualize water conditions in NYC’s Harbor using a light installation and an interactive website. The 50-foot x 50-foot plus-shaped “+POOL Light” is installed at the Seaport District at Lower Manhattan’s Pier 17, continuously changing color based on the condition of the water in which it floats, from great for swimming to not-so-great. The installation debuted last night and will be on view until January 3rd.

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Shuli Sadé’s Wild, Heterotopias; courtesy of Related Companies

A new art exhibit that opened last week at the High Line Nine in Chelsea appears to be an empty room of blank walls. But the exhibition, titled “Art Has No Limits,” actually features art hidden in plain sight. Through the augmented reality art app Aery, visitors have access to multiple shows by different artists in the same space, at the same time. The new exhibit, which opened at the gallery between West 27th and West 28th Streets on Sunday, shows off work by photographer Shuli Sadé and neo-conceptual artist Richard Humann.

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Rumors of War © Kehinde Wiley. Used by permission. Presented by Times Square Arts in partnership with the Virginia Museum of Fine Art and Sean Kelly, New York. Photographer: Kylie Corwin for Kehinde Wiley.

The artist widely known for his portrait of former President Barack Obama unveiled last week his first public sculpture. Nigerian-American visual artist Kehinde Wiley’s “Rumors of War“ will be on display in Times Square until December. Standing 27 feet high, the artwork features a young African American man dressed in ripped jeans and a hoodie sitting on a horse, a direct response to the controversial Confederate monuments found all over the United States.

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Photo by Zachary Tyler Newton for LMCC

A permanent arts center opened on Governors Island last week, becoming the 172-acre site’s first year-round tenant dedicated to arts and culture. The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) has transformed a 19th-century warehouse into a 40,000-square-foot space for arts and educational programming. LMCC partnered with the Trust for Governors Island on the $12 million renovation, with designs from PEI Cobb Freed & Partners and Adamson Associates Architects. Historic details of the building were retained while enabling space for galleries, studios, rehearsal space, and an indoor cafe.

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Rendering of “Women’s Rights Pioneer Monument” (courtesy of Monumental Women).

Last year’s unveiling of designs for the first statue in Central Park’s 165-year history that depicts real historic women–a sculpture of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, set to be dedicated in August of 2020 to mark the 100th anniversary of nationwide women’s suffrage–was met with the criticism that it didn’t adequately represent the many African-American women who aided in the cause. As 6sqft previously reported, a redesigned statue honoring women’s rights advocates will now include Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and escaped slave and abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who aided in the fight for women’s rights. The updated design has been revealed. But, as AM New York reports, The city’s Public Design Commission has said the statue still falls short, and has postponed the vote to confirm the new design–possibly jeopardizing an August 26, 2020 unveiling.

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Dustin Pittman. Stroke of Midnight at Studio, 1978–79. Photograph, 15x 20 in. (38.1 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist. © Dustin Pittman

An exhibition opening at the Brooklyn Museum next year will explore for the first time the enduring impact of Studio 54. Opening in March, Studio 54: Night Magic examines the influence that the disco-era nightclub continues to have on design, cinema, and fashion today. Iconic photography and roughly 650 objects, including drawings, paintings, music, and decor, will be on display.

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