CITYarts, Inc.

CITYarts, Inc.
Formerly
 Cityarts Workshop
Non-Profit
Founded 1989
Headquarters New York, NY, USA
Key people
 Tsipi Ben-Haim, Executive and Creative Director
Website www.cityarts.org

CITYarts, Inc. is a nonprofit public arts and education organization, focusing on murals and mosaics.

About

As stated on their website, the mission of CITYarts is to "engage youth with professional artists in the creation of public art, including murals and mosaic. Through this creative process, CITYarts empowers, educates, and connects youth and children locally and around the world to become active participants in realizing their potential and transforming communities."[1] The current director of CITYarts, Inc. is Tsipi Ben-Haim.[2]

Tsipi Ben-Haim 2013 at the opening ceremony of CITYarts' Peace Wall in Berlin, Germany.

History

CITYarts, Inc. was founded in 1989 by Tsipi Ben-Haim. The organization takes part of its name from Cityarts Workshop, which closed down after losing its funding in 1988.[3] Since its inception, CITYarts has created over 320 mural projects predominantly in New York City, and five Peace Walls internationally.[4]

Programs

CITYarts' projects are produced under five programs: Community Identity, Global HeARTWarming, Young Minds Build Bridges, Kids for Justice, and Windows of Opportunity. These projects are produced and created in underserved communities in the five boroughs of New York City. CITYarts includes a broad constituency of participants in order to expose youth to a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. CITYarts executes its programs through the youth-adult partnership model, in which young people are treated as responsible individuals with the capacity to meet challenges and make decisions.

Current summer projects include:

Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton year 2 with artist Hugo Bastidas

Flowering Vine and Us with artist Kevin Galeazzi

Rising Up In the Community with artist Annabelle Popa

Peace Wall in Harlem restoration with artist Ricardo Arango

Projects

The Rolling Bench

One of CITYarts' projects is The Rolling Bench at Grant's Tomb. A 400-foot mosaic bench, The Rolling Bench was described as the largest public arts project in the country when it was built between 1972 and 1974.[5] The Rolling Bench was designed by a group of artists and children, and the work on the bench was led by Chilean-born New York artist Pedro Silva and the architect Phillip Danzig.[6] The benches were not universally popular and there was much debate over whether or not to destroy or move the benches, citing architectural conflict between the neoclassical tomb and the modern, colorful bench.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] In 1997, the benches were nearly removed by the Park Service as part of the 100th anniversary renovations of Grant's Tomb. The Park Service cut out a small section of the benches and lifted it a few inches to assess how difficult it would be to move them.[14] However, The Rolling Bench was not removed and was restored in 2008 with the help of one of the original artists and many of the original volunteers, together with a group of young artists.[15]

Peace Wall in Harlem, NY, CITYarts, Inc., 2005

Pieces for Peace

Pieces for Peace is a CITYarts project started in 2002. As stated on the CITYarts website, this project "was designed to build bridges of international understanding by bringing together American youth and their peers from around the world to create drawings, paintings, and poems."[16] These works have been exhibited at the UN in New York City.[17] As part of this project, the CITYarts Peace Wall in Harlem, a 213-foot-long (65 m) mosaic was installed in the Jacob H. Schiff Park at 138th St and Amsterdam Ave in New York.[18] The mosaic design was created by artist/illustrator Peter Sís in collaboration with international youth, and was completed in 2005.[19] The project is currently undergoing restoration with artist Ricardo Arango.

Forever Tall

Forever Tall was a mural completed in 2001, as a response to 9/11, overlooking Cooper Square in the East Village of Manhattan. The mural depicted the skyline of Manhattan at night with the twin towers as two columns of flowers.[20] The lead artists on this project were Hope Gangloff and Jason Search[21]. The mural no longer exists as the wall was subsequently painted over to be used for advertising.[22]

Controversy

CITYarts' proposed murals in two Chelsea parks were met with anger from the Chelsea community, which DNAinfo reports was widely excluded from the process.[23] In an article titled, "Locals Irked By 'La-Di-Da' Plans for Kids to Create Murals in Chelsea Parks," DNAinfo reports that CITYarts began moving forward with the project without consulting neighbors and local block associations. Bob Trentlyon, a public member of the Waterfront, Parks and Environment committee expressed dismay that CITYarts was "leaving out the community."[24] Additionally, community members felt insulted by Ben-Haim's claim, on a flier she distributed, that Clement Clarke Moore Park "feels abandoned."[25]

People

CITYarts has worked with the following artists, among others:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "CITYarts Mission".
  2. ↑ "The Life Cycle of a Mural, And Its Neighborhood". CityLab. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  3. ↑ "This Might Be Your Last Chance To See This Mural". The Forward. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  4. ↑ "CITYarts Seeks Support for Chelsea Mural Projects | chelseanow.com". chelseanow.com. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  5. ↑ Huff-Hannon, Joseph, "Echoes of Gaudí in a Place That Honors Grant", The New York Times, July 20, 2008, "", August 12, 2010
  6. ↑ "History and Public Art at Grant's Tomb". Finding NYC. 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  7. ↑ Mayo, Anna, "Cleansing of the Temples", The Village Voice, February 4–10, 1981
  8. ↑ "Grant's Tomb Clash", The New York Times", November 16, 1980
  9. ↑ "Recommend Moving Benches at Grant's Tomb: Park Service", Artworkers News, October 1980
  10. ↑ Lloyd, Leo, "Argue to Keep Benches", The Westsider, October 9, 1980
  11. ↑ Johnson, Rishard, "Gen. Grant's Nude Neighbors Face Ax as Obscene Eyesore", New York Post, July 18, 1979
  12. ↑ Johnston, Laurie, "Skirmish at Grant's Tomb Over Benches", The New York TImes, July 23, 1979
  13. ↑ "Benchmark Case", ARTnews, November 1979
  14. ↑ Allon, Janet, "Mosaic Benches Face Unseating At Grant's Tomb", The New York Times", March 30, 1997, "", August 13, 2010
  15. ↑ Akasie, Jay, "Teaching Children the Benefits of Restoration",The New York Sun, August 27, 2008, "", August 12, 2010
  16. ↑ "Pieces For Peace Statement | CITYarts". cityarts.org. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  17. ↑ "'Pieces for Peace' Exhibit Opens at United Nations Headquarters | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". www.un.org. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  18. ↑ "Jacob H. Schiff Playground Highlights - Jacob H. Schiff Playground : NYC Parks". www.nycgovparks.org. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  19. 1 2 Inberg, Tara, "CITYarts, Making a Difference Through the Arts", SoHo Journal, page 20
  20. ↑ Cotter, Holland, "Amid the Ashes, Creativity", The New York Times, February 1, 2002, pages E33 and E35
  21. ↑ Palmer, Joanne, "About the cover: Writing on the Wall", The New Jersey Jewish Standard, September 6, 2002, page 3
  22. ↑ Malone, Michael, "Something There Was That Did Not Love This Wall", The New York Times, October 10, 2004
  23. ↑ "Locals Irked By 'La-Di-Da' Plans for Kids to Create Murals in Chelsea Parks". DNAinfo New York. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  24. ↑ "Locals Irked By 'La-Di-Da' Plans for Kids to Create Murals in Chelsea Parks". DNAinfo New York. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  25. ↑ "Locals Irked By 'La-Di-Da' Plans for Kids to Create Murals in Chelsea Parks". DNAinfo New York. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  26. ↑ Huff-Hannon, Joseph (2008-07-20). "Whimsical Benches Around Grant's Tomb Restored". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  27. ↑ "Another twin towers fall as Cooper covers a mural". thevillager.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  28. ↑ Malone, Michael (2004-08-01). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: EAST VILLAGE; Mural of Memory May Disappear, Lost to Wall Ads". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  29. ↑ "the SoHo Journal". archive.sohojournal.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  30. ↑ "CV « Joseph La Piana". josephlapiana.com. Retrieved 2017-09-18.
  31. ↑ Duda Penteado, "Resume", "", August 26, 2010

Further reading

  • Ben-Haim, Tsipi, Pieces for Peace, (Buenos Aires, Argentina: Menos es Más S.R.L., 2009) ISBN 978-0-615-30765-7
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