By Alexandra Alexa, Thu, December 5, 2019 Renderings courtesy of TEN Arquitectos and Andrea Steele Architecture
The city’s Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is starting construction on a new cultural center housed within the 32-story tower at 300 Ashland Place in Fort Greene. The new L10 Arts and Cultural Center will span across 50,000 square feet and host a range of institutions, including new gallery and performance spaces for the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), three cinemas for the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), rehearsal studios and performance space for 651 ARTS, and a new branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.
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By Devin Gannon, Mon, November 25, 2019 Photo by Cameron Blaylock
A bright and colorful public art installation has opened in front of the Flatiron Building just in time for the holiday season. Ziggy from New York-based firm Hou de Sousa was selected last week as the winner of the annual Flatiron Public Plaza Holiday Design Competition by the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership and the Van Alen Institute. The structure is made up of painted rebar and 27,000 feet of iridescent cord and allows visitors to walk through, sit down, and peek through its vibrant openings. “Hou de Sousa’s spectacular installation invites us to rethink how we interact with public space, and with one another, “Deborah Marton, Van Alen’s executive director, said. “Their design creates delightful and unexpected ways to connect with others.”
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By Dana Schulz, Thu, October 31, 2019 Rendering of Anish Kapoor sculpture at 56 Leonard St. © Anish Kapoor, 2017
Tribeca’s “Jenga Building,” officially known as 56 Leonard Street, welcomed residents over two years ago, but one piece of the tower is still missing–the mirrored, bean-shaped sculpture by Anish Kapoor planned for the sidewalk outside its entrance. The sculptor is best known in the U.S. for his 2005 Cloud Gate installation in Chicago’s Millenium Park, and his Tribeca piece, his first permanent work in New York City, will be a similar, smaller version of this. Back in March, we spotted a spray-painted installation guide for the sculpture outside 56 Leonard, but it’s taken until now for the official word that the install will begin in November.
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By Michelle Cohen, Mon, October 28, 2019 Image: Business Wire
Work by Yayoi Kusama, the celebrated contemporary artist who gave us those famous polka-dot pumpkins and insanely popular Infinity Rooms, will be brightening the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The Japanese artist’s creation, “Love Flies Up to the Sky,” will be part of the parade’s Blue Sky Gallery, a series of balloons that reflect art from the world’s best-known contemporary artists.
Inflatable art, this way
By Alexandra Alexa, Fri, October 25, 2019 Images courtesy of NYC Parks
After a couple of months of work, Keith Haring’s iconic “Crack is Wack” mural in East Harlem is now fully restored. As 6sqft previously reported, Haring painted the 16-foot by 26-foot mural on a handball court at East 128th Street and the Harlem River Drive in 1986 to draw attention to the crack cocaine epidemic. Composed with the artist’s signature kinetic figures and bold abstract forms, the piece has been celebrated as one of his most important works. It was refurbished and repainted by artists Louise Hunnicutt and William Tibbals, with support from the Keith Haring Foundation.
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By Devin Gannon, Tue, October 22, 2019 A 1/3 size clay model of the statue; Photo by Michael Bergmann
New York City’s most famous park will get a new statue honoring women for the first time ever. The city’s Public Design Commission on Monday approved a design for a new Central Park monument that depicts women’s rights activists, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Set to debut next summer on the 100th-anniversary of the 19th amendment’s ratification, the statue’s approval comes as the city looks to address the lack of women honored in public spaces. Currently, all 23 historical monuments in Central Park are of men.
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By Dana Schulz, Tue, October 15, 2019 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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By Alexandra Alexa, Mon, October 14, 2019 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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By Alexandra Alexa, Thu, October 10, 2019 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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By Michelle Cohen, Fri, October 4, 2019 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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