Here Is New York

For Here Is New York , located at P.S. 161, Lane Twitchell created framed images out of cut and folded paper, measuring 8 foot (2.4 m) square, to recount the history of New York City and State. In the center of the composition, New York is depicted as a home to Native Americans living in the abundant natural world. The chronological narrative radiates outward and includes images of the first Europeans arriving by ship and the attendant slave trade, the Revolutionary War, the building of the Erie Canal, the Draft Riots, the emancipation of slaves, the creation of the subway system, the Women's Suffrage Movement, and the emergence of our complex modern metropolis. Twitchell paid particular attention to the borough of Queens and the neighborhood of Richmond Hill, with images of native son and nineteenth-century photographer Jacob Riis, the Queensborough Bridge, the 1939-40 World's Fair, LaGuardia International Airport, and P.S. 161. "In creating Here is New York , I wanted a piece that spoke to a variety of audiences on different levels. On the most basic level the work is a giant snowflake, like those children make during the holidays. On another, more complex level, the piece tells the history of New York. I hope in this way the work transcends the merely decorative to be a meaningful and instructive part of P.S. 161." -- Lane Twitchell, 2001