This past weekend, a public art project on Furman Street was unveiled as part of the Urban Art Program, an initiative to invigorate the City’s streetscapes with engaging temporary art installations. The art project was commissioned by the NY Department of Transporation via proposals submitted by artists. Debra Hampton was the artist chosen to design the barriers, a mural that runs down the bike lane barriers on Furman Street. We contacted Debra to find out more about the mural and how this project got done. We asked how the community was involved in making this happen. Debra said, “I worked with students from F.I.T.’s Art Collective and also my own assistants to prepare the 40 reusable stencils used for the painting. The actual painting was done by volunteers signed up with NYCares (www.newyorkcares.org) and included several members of the community which was great.”
Can you give us a project synopsis? “[My] aim is to delight and surprise viewers by transforming everyday images, usually targeted to them as consumers, into beautiful unexpected forms. A slight departure from [my] usual mixed-media work of collages, the mural incorporates one aspect of [my] studio process and applies it to the city landscape.”
Check out the mural, titled “Face to Face”, which transforms the otherwise plain barriers into repeated silhouette in bright colors down the entire facade. Great work, and thank you Debra!
(Thank you Jane Kratochvil for the photos).