Arts
Thomas Hirschhorn's Precious and Precarious Bronx
Writer Steven Thomson and photographer Cameron Blaylock respond to Thomas Hirschhorn's Gramsci Monument, a conceptual sculpture commemorating an Italian philosopher installed at a NYCHA complex in the Bronx.
St. George, Staten Island
In the last of a series of profiles of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts around the five boroughs, Summer Brennan explores the existing cultural community in St. George, Staten Island, and plans to encourage and capitalize on it to create "a high visibility gateway for cultural activity in Staten Island."
Reconstructing Lady Liberty
In honor of the re-opening of the Statue of Liberty after eight months of repairs following Superstorm Sandy, Peter Lehrer, who managed the ambitious reconstruction of the iconic monument between 1984 and 1986, describes in detail this complex feat of historic preservation.
15 Years of Photographing Harlem: A Conversation with John Reddick and Albert Vecerka
Architectural photographer Albert Vecerka discusses his photographs of Harlem with historian John Reddick, reflecting on the visual traces of social, economic, and urban change.
Fort Greene, Brooklyn
In the second in a series of profiles of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts, Mercedes Kraus looks at how a cultural community has flourished by leveraging its legacy of artistic production in the face of intensifying real estate pressure and outside influence and interest.
Eco-Visualization: Aesthetics for Sustainability
Juliet Helmke traces the origins and prospects of a genre of art that aims to educate and more effectively influence consumer behavior through the reinterpretation of ecological data.
Restoring Pride of Place: A Conversation with Nancy Biberman
The founder and president of the Women's Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco) talks about the difference between building structures and building communities, the musical legacy of the Bronx, and how the persistence of memory affects neighborhood growth.
Metropolitan Avenue: Community, Then and Now
In a filmmaker's depiction of a diverse, family-oriented Williamsburg community, viewers are served ingredients that commingle to form a lingering sense of loss.
Corona, Queens
In the first in a series of profiles of Naturally Occurring Cultural Districts, Caitlin Blanchfield reports on how a robust network of community-based groups in Corona, Queens, has put local cultural vitality and institutional partnerships to work in reclaiming a public space for neighborhood use.
The Cultural Organizer as Urbanist: A Conversation with José Serrano-McClain
An artist, community organizer, and social entrepreneur discusses museum-community partnerships, crowdfunding public art, and emerging trends in socially engaged creative projects.