  NYC Department of Transportation - Urban Art Program

on 14th between Union Square East & Union Square West

Inspired by expressive, abstract forms found in the natural world, the seven sculptures appear to be growing out of the grass in which they are anchored, implying a sense of elevation and spiritual uplifting.  The tallest of the works is 40 feet in length and 20 feet tall.

Calatrava on Park Avenue

This bas-relief work is approxiamately 8 stories high. Its highlight is the smoking sun burst at the top. Designed as a building wall showing the phases of moon and lapsed time/time remaining in each phase.

Metronome at Union Square

Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel talk about 1999's Metronome, at Union Sq. S. Metronome is a series of brick walls in concentric circles that shelter a hole "that emanates a constant halo of steam. At noon and midnight, the hole erupts..." Metronome was commissioned by the Public Art Fund and the Municipal Arts Society.

The focus of Gabriel Koren's career has been to sculpt the leaders, artists, thinkers and other members of the African American Diaspora whose lives and work have impacted contemporary life on national and international levels.  The 8 foot bronze sculpture of Frederick Douglass is part of Frederick Douglass Circle which was created as a collaboration of Koren with site artist Algernon Miller.
The sculpture is based on early daguerreotypes.  In daguerreotypes the figure would often stand next to a column because the exposure time for the photograph often lasted for up to an hour.

"The commissions to create the public sculptures of Malcolm X and Frederick Douglass in Harlem were the greatest honor and greatest responsibility I have received in my life.  My goal was to create sculptures representing two great African American historical figures.  I hope my work will add to the memories of the two great men." from the Artist.

Frederick Douglass Memorial

North Shore Esplanade at St. George's Ferry Terminal

Broadway Plazas

City Hall Park

The plaza on the south side of 12th street below the Metro-North viaduct. The Mural is on the north-facing wall of the former "comfort station."

Harlem-125th Street Metro-North Station

Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

Park Avenue Tunnel,  from 33rd Street to 40th Street

Park Avenue Tunnel

Seagram Building

Ruth Wittenberg Plaza

Madison Square Park

Elder Avenue Subway

Battery Park

<p>NYC Department Of Transportation's Urban Art Program is integral to DOT's goal of world class streets. Artists help to transform the landscape from ordinary to extraordinary with temporary, unexpected interventions - colorful murals, dynamic light projections, thought-provoking sculptures. Public plazas, fences, barriers, footbridges, and sidewalks serve as canvases for temporary art in all five boroughs. DOT's Urban Art initiatives rely on partnerships with community organizations and the creativity of artists to present site-responsive artwork. DOT Urban Art has presented over 100 inspiring projects.</p>

NYC Department of Transportation

Urban Art Program, NYC Department of Transportation

Norwegian artist Jana Winderen talks about she created a 7-block long immersive sound installation within the Park Avenue Tunnel. She produced this soundscape using sounds recorded from shallow to deep underwater environments found in many countries, from Greenland to Thailand and elsewhere. The sound compositions are engineered from her recordings of sounds made by crustaceans, fish and mammals that are normally undetected by the human ear but are captured by sensitive hydrophones. Together with Tony Myatt, who disseminates the spatial sound, Jana Winderen creates a lively environment by producing sound pockets of different habitats, which the public will experience as they ‘dive’ further into the tunnel. Through the use of cool blue lighting and the sounds of various underwater creatures, the installation aims to create the feeling of “diving” into the ocean.

New York, N.Y. (2013) - As part of New York City’s annual Summer Streets celebration, artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer took over the Park Avenue Tunnel with his large-scale interactive installation, Voice Tunnel. The installation consisted of 300 theatrical spotlights mounted along the two facing tunnel walls, producing columns of light that followed the natural curve of the tunnel to just barely met in the center of the ceiling. A special intercom in the middle of the 1,400 foot long tunnel rounded out the installation. Members of the public were invited to speak into the intercom. Every speech was recorded and played back in a loop, recycling old recordings with new ones so that only 75 voices could be heard through any of 150 loudspeakers that were mounted along the tunnel. As more and more people added their voices,  the lights flashed in synchronicity like morse code, moving from one end of the tunnel to the other.

Urban Art Program, NYC Department of Transportation

IMAGE ALBUMS

1
350,000 stale crackers found under the Brooklyn Bridge ALBUM

2
George Washington at Union Square ALBUM

SITES

Urban Art Program, NYC Department of Transportation

IMAGE ALBUMS

1350,000 stale crackers found under the Brooklyn Bridge ALBUM

2George Washington at Union Square ALBUM

SITES

1
350,000 stale crackers found under the Brooklyn Bridge ALBUM

2
George Washington at Union Square ALBUM