25 Mar 2014

City as Site: Public Art as Social Intervention

CITY AS SITE: PUBLIC ART AS SOCIAL INTERVENTION
June 16-27, 2014

City as Site is a nomadic summer residency that explores the diverse communities that define New YorkCity with the aim of creating site-specific public works.

Through emergent forms of social engagement, contemporary artists have redefined the known term of 'public art.' Like a public laboratory, this program brings together artists, scholars and community members to think about the role of art in constructing space for civic dialogue. Participants will develop experimental models for an artistic practice that combine methods from the arts, activism, and other fields in order to cultivate innovative approaches to the construction of social spaces as works of art

The residency will use the streets of New York City's five boroughs as its classroom. Artists and faculty will rove throughout the city, and engage with its communities, histories and stories, which will become materials for final projects. Interventions may take the form of tours, temporal installations, video or sound projections, performances, community involved projects, peer-to-peer platforms, print or online publication, or a one-time street event.

This is a unique opportunity to study with a faculty composed of leading artists and social entrepreneurs. Through experiential workshops and one-on-one sessions, faculty will help artists to originate projects that reflect current social issues and guide collaborations with local businesses and neighborhoods, as well as cultural and governmental partners.

City as Site is open to artists interested in moving from the traditional studio, gallery and theatre space into the urban arena. Visual artists, writers, architects, designers, performance artists, urban planners and social activists are invited to apply.

Faculty will include: Ofri Cnaani (visual artist), Kendal Henry (public art, urban design consultant; visual artist; curator), Ed Woodham (artist, founder and director, Art in Odd Places).

Scheduled guest lecturers include: Rachel Falcone & Michael Premo (Housing as a Human Right),Tom Finkelpearl (Queens Museum), Lisa Kim (Two Trees), Micaela Martegani (More Art), Jenny Polak (Artist and activist), Todd Shalom (Elastic City), Radhika Subramaniam (Parsons The New School for Design & independent curator), Charlie Todd (Improv Everywhere), Risë Wilson (The Landromat Project & Robert Rauschenberg Foundation), Caroline Woolard (Our Goods & Trade School).