Public Art Conference Archive—2001

Studio Tour Descriptions

MANHATTAN TOURS

Chelsea
Tour Leader: Charlotte Cohen, Director, Percent for Art Program, NYC Department Of Cultural Affairs, New York, NY
This tour with Charlotte Cohen, Director of the New York City Percent for Art Program, includes studio visits with Tim Rollins + KOS, Allan and Ellen Wexler, artists who have recently completed public art projects in New York. It also includes a visit to Max Protetch Gallery, and the chance to meet Max and view an exhibition about the work of Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. A visit to Dia Art Center, and a viewing of Jorge Pardo's new lobby and bookstore design, Dan Graham's rooftop installation are the grande finale of the afternoon. Time permitting, additional gallery visits will be included.

Hell's Kitchen
Tour Leader: Leni Schwendinger, Artist, New York, NY
Public Art Meets Urban Design: Synergy in Manhattan. Join public artist Leni Schwendinger for a walk in Hell's Kitchen, the last under-developed tract of land in Manhattan. This controversial outpost of NYC is hitting the press more and more lately as business interests, City Planning, local residents, workers, artists and architects circulate their ideas for the next building boom.

First stop: Triple Bridge Gateway, better known as a complex of "dark and dreary bus ramps" at Port Authority Bus Terminal. Here we will join up with Kentaro Tsubaki of Pasanella, Klein Stolzman, and Berg Architects, the project architect for Triple Bridge. With artist involvement, this model project began in 1995 as a NYC Community Board 4 community-needs survey, exhibition and symposium. In 2003, the ramps, facades and interstitial spaces of the infastructural maze will shimmer with color and light. Leni is a partner in the design team. She and Kentaro will share the winning design in situ. The project is currently under construction.

Just three blocks away, at the Design Trust for Public Space, you will meet Karen Hock, the Director of Projects at this nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the design and understanding public space in New York City. Recent projects include High Performance Building Guidelines for the NYC Department of Design and Construction and Reclaiming the High Line, a planning study for the potential reuse of the disused elevated railroad tracks on Manhattan¹s west side. Hell¹s Kitchen South: Developing Strategies, a planning study undertaken in partnership with the Hell¹s Kitchen Neighborhood Association, is currently being readied for publication in September.

Next stop, you'll visit with Ruth Lande Shuman, director of PubliColor, an organization that works with schoolchildren and paints public schools in New York. Trained as an industrial designer, Ruth's dynamic color swathes enliven schools, police precincts and public spaces throughout New York City. PubliColor's award-winning apprenticeship program imparts painting life-skills to youth at risk.

For the Hell's Kitchen Walk, we will meet Ruth at the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood-run Bird Park, where she will discuss Painted Promenade, her project for the vast concrete and metal walls of 39th Street.

Finally, a refreshing stop at Leni Schwendinger Light Projects LTD. This studio, affectionately known as the "light grotto," is a focus of public-art and lighting-design activity. Leni will share her experiences as the president of Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association and relate how this role as an active civic leader affects her art process.

Soho
Tour Leader: Bill Moakler, Artist, New York, NY
This tour will includes the following stops:

• CITYarts' Rivers of Communication mural created by the artist Osmo Rauhala in collaboration with students from Chelsea Vocational High School, located at Grand Canal Court on 6th Avenue.
• CITYarts' Art Mural designed by Jessica Diamond and executed by Bill Moakler located at Thompson Street Playground.
• Following the murals, visits to artists' studios will include Nam June Paik, Claude Sampton, Zigi Ben-Haim and Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists will be in their studios to receive the tour and to talk about their work.

Tribeca
Tour Leader: Diane Shamash, Minetta Brook, New York, NY
Tribeca, the Triangle below Canal Street, is a burgeoning residential/industrial district with landmark architecture, galleries, and artists' studios. This tour includes a visit to the studio of George Trakas, an environmental sculptor whose interest in water resource issues, tides, currents, and shoreline construction is manifest in a wide range of projects from Berth Haven at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle, Washington to Sword Bridge in Thiers, France. It will also include a visit to the studio of Maureen Conner, an artist internationally-recognized for her sculptural installations and multi disciplinary works in public and museum spaces.

World Views Studio Program at the World Trade Center
Tour Leader: Moukhtar Kocache and Tricia Mire, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY
Visit the World Views Program, where along with the chance to meet and view artists' work, you will be able to get your fill of great views of New York City. Located on the 91st and 92nd d floors of the World Trade Center, this residency program gives artists space and support during their 6 month stay. A presentation will be made of public art projects developed in situ by past residents. In addition to meeting artists in residence, learn more about the arts programs of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and THUNDERGULCH.

BRONX TOURS

Bronx Museum of the Arts: Artists in the Marketplace Program
Tour Leader: Jenny Dixon, Bronx Museum of Art, Bronx, NY
The Artist in the Marketplace Program has been preparing emerging artists for a career in the visual arts for over 10 years. Learn more about this program, view the current exhibition of AIM artists, and tour the museum.

Longwood Residency Program and Hunts Point Area Studios
Tour Leader: Rob Blackson, Bronx Council on the Arts, Bronx, NY
The Longwood Arts Project is the gallery facility of the Bronx Council on the Arts. In 1999 it began its first cycle of cyber residency initiatives. The purpose of this program is to educate artists who previously had very little exposure to Internet software applications such as Flash, Director, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop. Consultants work with each of our four resident artists over the course of the nine month residency so that they might use this technology with the same fluidity and confidence that they use their more traditional studio materials. This year's resident artists are Tomie Arai, George Crespo, Marcos Dimas, and Jaime Permuth.

BROOKLYN TOURS

Dumbo
Tour Leader: Anne Pasternak, Creative Time, Inc., New York, NY
Located Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, DUMBO has been an artist community for decades. Despite recent changes and gentrification, many artists have been able to continue to work and live in this neighborhood of bridge anchors, cobbled streets, and waterfront views. Meet Vito Acconci and Acconci Studio, who have been in the neighborhood since the 70's, Michael Counts at gAle gAtes et al, who will discuss his own work and the gallery's programs, and artist Robin Kahn, the founder and member of several international public art collectives including SOS International, a publishing venture that produces books as public art.

Williamsburg
Tour Leader: Meridith McNeal, Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
It has been argued that Williamsburg is the center of art in New York City. This neighborhood is home to hundreds of artists, writers, musicians, with galleries popping up seemingly daily. This tour will include stops in the studios of Ron Baron, Jackie Chang and Andy Yoder.

Public Art Fund Tour
Tour Leader: Richard Griggs, The Public Art Fund, New York, NY
This tour will visit two group exhibitions featuring temporary public projects, presented by Public Art Fund.

• Target Art in the Park, Manhattan. Exhibition of three artist work in newly renovated Madison Square Park, including Teresita Fernandez, Navin Rawanchaikul and Tobias Rehberger.
• Halcyon Days, MetroTech Center, Brooklyn. Annual group show of emerging artists work in a public park in Downtown Brooklyn, artists represented include, Andrew Kromelow, Michelle Lopez, Peter Rostovsky, Jude Tallichet, Tony Matelli and James Angus.

QUEENS TOURS

Long Island City
Tour Leader: Mary Ceruti, Sculpture Center, New York, NY
This tour will include stops to the studios of Michael Rakowitz and Eric Levine, and a tour of Sculpture Center's new building in Long Island City. Mary Ceruti will give a tour of the new facilities, and describe the upcoming renovation by Maya Lin. In addition, several artists will join the group at the new site to give talks about their work.

P.S.1 Studio Program
Tour Leader: Tom Finkelpearl, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, NY
P.S.1's national and international studio program features artists from across Europe, Asia, and the United States. This year's group includes a large number of artists working in the public realm, from an artist who paints old master-style landscapes on New York's dumpsters to another who creates song-based sound art in bus terminals and office buildings. The tour will be led by P.S.1's Deputy Director, Tom Finkelpearl. This tour will require a minimum of walking as all the artists are situated on the second floor studio wing. While at P.S.1, the group will also have a chance to visit the exhibitions, including a large outdoor architectural installation by Roy Co.