In the last few years we’ve seen the busy intersection respond to the perceived needs of City residents and tourists alike: once traffic-heavy avenues have been transformed into spaces for those who want to kick back, sit down, and surf the net (yes, there’s free wifi in Times Square). What we’ve also seen in this commerce-heavy district is an increasingly intimate relationship with Art. Public Art. From Paul Ramirez Jonas’ Key to the City to the Fashion Center’s Sidewalk Catwalk, The Times Square Alliance has seemingly placed Public Art at the top of their agenda.

Their latest offering? The Department of Transportation (DOT) commissioned “Cool Water, Hot Island,” by Brooklyn-based artist Molly Dilworth. The 50,000 square foot sidewalk painting on the asphalt winding through pedestrian plazas was created to invoke…what else? A river. Various shades of blue create a ripple effect that the DOT hopes will not only help to cool down the city streets–”the design’s color palette of striking blues and lighter hues reflects more sunlight and absorbs less heat,” they say–but also provide a sense of aesthetic balance, “a compelling counterpoint to the reds, oranges and yellows of the area’s signature marquees an billboards.”

“Cool Water, Hot Island” stretches from 42nd street to 47th street and is set to grace the square until the DOT begins construction of permanent pedestrian plazas by 2012. Check back in the coming days for more news about the (so far very successful) marriage between times square and public art.

Signing Off,
Alina and Jordana

“Play Me, I’m Yours” is a piece by British artist Luke Jerram which was recently presented here in NY by non-profit arts group, Sing For Hope. 60 pianos throughout the city’s five boroughs, brought music to streets, parks and other public spaces. From June 21 to July 5, the pianos could be played by anyone who passed by in a festival of music open to all (day or night!). Upon conclusion of their public service, the pianos were donated to schools, hospitals, and community organizations.

From June 24 to September 3, a project by the Fashion Center Business Improvement District called “Sidewalk Catwalk” merges fashion and public art.  Mannequins wearing one-of-a-kind creations by 30 of New York’s leading designers and two student design teams from Parsons and FIT can be seen all along Broadway from Herald Square to Times Square. Such noteworthy designers include Tommy Hilfiger, Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Nanette Lepore, and Isaac Mizrahi. The creations will be auctioned off at the end of the summer with proceeds going to Materials for the Arts, a non-profit that supplies creative groups and public schools with recycled arts materials.

So if you’re tiring of the beach this summer, take a look (or listen!) at what the City streets have to offer.

Enjoy!
-Alina

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And in other news, JUST THREE DAYS LEFT TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK to ArtBridge for our 2010/2011 Exhibition Year Portfolio! Click HERE to submit your work. Keep the entries coming!

Good Luck to All!

Jordana

“Even before condo development Griffin Court arrived at 800 Tenth Avenue, developer Alchemy Properties was thinking about how to decorate the place. Their answer to this question? Giant murals on two of the complex’s exterior walls, with the artist chosen in a contest. And now, a few months after Griffin Court’s sales began, Alchemy has found its winner: Brooklyn artist Corinne Ulmann, whose design “depicts a pattern of trees using variations of light and shadow intended to evoke the building’s 8,700-square-foot private courtyard and the nearby DeWitt Clinton Park.” Painting starts this week and will take about 10 days. Will anyone look away from their new iPads and flat screens long enough to catch a glimpse of this thing going up?”

Griffin Court’s Mural Competition Specs:

Corrine Ulmann’s Winning Entry:

Whew!

I’m a sucker for Art that asks question (think Key to the City‘s, “how public is public space?”) which is why I feel particularly excited about the Public Art Fund’s latest offering. When I think of a statue, Rodin’s “The Thinker” and Michaelangelo’s Pieta come to mind. Statue-making is an art form steeped in tradition which raises the question, what does it mean for something to be “statuesque” in our modern times? Is it inextricably linked, a reference to, a bygone era to which we no longer have access? With Statuesque, the Public Art Fund has brought together six artists to create works that tip their hats to classical sculpture both through their use of traditional materials and the depiction of the human body while simultaneously subverting the form. Sculpture is brought out from the realm of the purely representational and into one of “myth, dream and fantasy.” Interesting stuff! Please drop us a line telling us about your experience with Statuesque down in City Hall Park.

It’s June 1 at 12:01AM and the ArtBridge 2010/2011 Exhibition Year Call for Entries is now open! It’s been just over a year since our debut exhibition and now that we have several more exciting projects in the pipeline we need art for our exhibitions, your art. We’ve streamlined the entry process since last year and made it even simpler to submit. After you’ve read over the Submission Guidelines PDF (read it thoroughly– submissions that don’t adhere to the guidelines will unfortunately not be considered), create a username and password, and begin to make your submission through our online entry form.

There was a tremendous amount of innovative work submitted for ArtBridge: First Exposure, 2009 and our curatorial team (members of which will be announced in the coming weeks) is looking forward to the imaginative, boundary-pushing, and just plain beautiful work artists will be submitting.

You may direct all questions to submissions@art-bridge.org. Submissions will be accepted until July 1 at 11:59PM. Good luck to you all!

As city agencies across the country are tightening their purse strings with the hopes of bouncing back from last year’s economic collapse, they need to know that cutting back on the Arts is not the way to go.

In response to the proposal, the New York Foundation for the Arts has teamed up with NYS Arts and their Save the Arts campaign, an initiative created to fight the cuts and to show Albany the potentially devastating effects of a reduction of Arts and cultural programming in New York State. Want to get involved? Find out what you can do by visiting the Save the Arts website.