To provide unprecedented opportunities for local artists to have their work seen at large scale in the public sphere.
ArtBridge empowers local artists to transform construction fencing, scaffolding and underutilized urban spaces into large-scale canvases for public art. We place artists and art at the center of public life, prioritizing exhibitions that amplify the voices, cultures, and histories of local communities.
ArtBridge was founded in 2008 by graphic designer and artist Rodney Durso. He envisioned New York’s ubiquitous landscape of construction scaffolding as a canvas for local and emerging artists. Where others saw eyesore, Rodney spotted an opportunity; turning a communal liability into a collective asset. This vision became ArtBridge.
Since that time, ArtBridge has grown to a team of more twenty including staff, Board members and Advisors and has installed hundreds of thought-provoking exhibitions, providing unprecedented exposure for local, emerging and established artists. At numerous construction sites in all five boroughs of New York City, and in partnership with international organizations in Italy, South Africa, and Brazil; ArtBridge has covered hundreds of thousands of square feet of public space with art, enriching the lives of countless pedestrians, residents and visitors alike in NYC and across the globe.
New York City’s streets are dominated by scaffolding and construction fencing, symbols of urban development that often lack creativity or vitality. At the same time, emerging artists face mounting challenges—from rising rents to an increasingly competitive gallery world.
ArtBridge bridges this divide by providing artists with exceptional exposure while beautifying the cityscape. Without intervention, New York City’s streets would remain dominated by lifeless construction fencing, while talented artists struggle to find opportunities to showcase their work.
In 2019, we expanded our mission by launching Bridging the Divide, a program at New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments, which provide homes to 400,000 lower-income New Yorkers. Founded by Executive Director Stephen Pierson, this initiative creates two-month artist residencies at NYCHA developments during construction periods. These residencies encourage artists to collaborate directly with residents, resulting in works that authentically represent the community’s history, culture, and experiences.
Scaffolding has been an integral fixture of the New York City landscape since the 19th century, when buildings started shooting skyward following the invention of elevators. The Scaffolding Law was passed in 1885 to deal with the safety hazards these new skyscrapers posed. The presence of scaffolding and sidewalk sheds spread exponentially after the passage of Local Law 11 in 1998, which mandated meticulous inspections of building facades every 5 years for all buildings over 6 stories high — inspections that required sidewalk sheds (‘scaffolding’ in common parlance) to be erected underneath.
Today, these ubiquitous structures symbolize the city’s evolution, and through ArtBridge, they have become canvases for artistic transformation.
