Dept of Public Art

NEW DPA Installation at KNOW Theatre

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Photo: DPA installs Three Panel on the fence in front of KNOW Theatre as well as on 5 boarded up windows.

Mark Bowers, DPA member and now a member of the KNOW Theatre, initiated an installation of mural panels to beautify and  draw attention to the theatre. Mural panels were painted last year by Bruce Greig and Kady Perry's BCC Mural ART Class. "This is a great melding of two art forms," said Bowers, "and a great use of these panels by many young artists."

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Mural Design Contest: Binghamton Plaza Rear Wall UPDATED

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         NEWS FLASH: Mayor David has added $750 to the prize for the winning design AND the deadline is being extended to July 17th.   The Dept. of Public Art (DPA) announces a design contest for a mural slated for the rear of the Binghamton Plaza along the Chenango River Trail, which is also the site of this year's Mural Fest 2016 at Cheri Lindsey Park. "This wall is visible from across the river which makes it part of the Binghamton Gateway and will show Binghamton as a creative, vibrant, and growing community," said Peg Johnston of the DPA. The contest, which carries a $250 prize, will attract local, regional, and national talent and will portray Binghamton's strengths and beauty. The deadline is July 5th and designs should be uploaded to co-sponsor Re-Bold Binghamton's site reboldbinghamton.com.

            "We are grateful to Michael Galesi and Galesi Development, owner of the Binghamton Plaza property, for his forward thinking in allowing us to paint a mural on this building," commented Mark Bowers, one of the coordinators for Mural Fest 2016. Mr. Galesi, as well as the newly formed Public Arts Advisory Board and Mayor Rich David will have input on the final design. “We are looking for a bold design that will represent the best of Binghamton and track well from across the river,” said Bowers.

            Councilman Conrad Taylor, who represents the North Side said, “The people of the Northside are fighting every day to revitalize their neighborhood and welcome this opportunity to make the Northside waterfront a more beautiful place.”

            Mural Fest 2016 is slated for September 17th, and will be held along the Chenango River Trail at Cheri Lindsey Park. The pool house at the Park will also be painted on that day. There will also be art activities for children and adults. Last year's Mural Fest created more than 30 mural panels which were subsequently placed on boarded up buildings in Binghamton, a program which continues.

            Both Mural Fests were funded in part by the Chenango Co Arts Council (NYS Decentralization grant) with help from the Hoyt Foundation, as well as by the Broome County Tourism fund. Additional fundraising will be needed for supplies and actual painting of the mural. For more information and for a copy of the Request for Proposals, contact DeptofPublicArt@gmail.com.

Download the RFP for Mural Fest Design Contest below.

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Blight Mural Project Final Report

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The Dept. of Public Art received a $5000 grant from the Chenango Co. Arts Council and the Hoyt Foundation in 2015 to place murals on blighted properties. In all, DPA volunteers placed 37 panels on 11 sites.

The Blight as Our Canvas project aimed to post temporary murals on blighted properties in Binghamton. The goal of the project was to get public art into neighborhoods and to improve the appearance of blighted properties. Audiences included neighborhood residents, local artists interested in painting, and property owners trying to improve their buildings.

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Public Art Encourages Voting

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The Dept. of Public Art is using art and scraps of wood to remind people to vote Tues. Nov. 3rd. "We encourage civic engagement in our public art, so this is a natural extension to remind people of their civic duty," said Peg Johnston, one of the organizers of the volunteer group. The odd shaped pieces of wood, left over from Mural Fest 2015, were brightly painted and the words Vote Nov. 3rd inscribed. The DPA intends to use the signs on social media and as lawn signs, or wherever people want to display them. Anyone wishing to post one –or paint more– please contact the DPA at binghamtonbridge@gmail.com.

A public art group in Philadelphia paired art with voting in their "Next Stop: Democracy" project. They recruited 60 artists to create vibrant signs to mark polling stations, and to engage citizens in the voting process.

Their statement:  "Can public art increase voter engagement? This is a question that hasn’t been answered, so we’re getting Philadelphia’s best creatives together to help us find out. Election Day should be one of the most exciting days of the year, but to many people, it seems like a chore. Finding your polling place, finding the entrance, and waiting in line can be complicated and frustrating. Plus, the signage required by the city to identify a polling place is nothing more than a few pieces of paper taped up on the wall outside the door. If you didn’t know what you were looking for, you wouldn’t give it a second glance. It doesn’t have to be this way! What if we could transform Election Day from something frustrating into something fun? Our idea is simple. Election Day should be an experience. Instead of boring, confusing signs, let’s use bright, vibrant artwork to identify our polling places. Can artists and performers make Election Day in Philadelphia a little more colorful? We vote yes!"

Less than 50% of voters turn out for elections, even in years where there is a Presidential race. On so called "off election cycles" the turnout is often even less, yet, local elections may affect individuals on many more levels.

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Blighted Building to Be Transformed into Aquarium Mural

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 10/25 THE MURAL IS FINISHED, AND DETAILED…   and Beautiful!!  Go visit at 21 Jarvis St. and take a selfie and post on Facebook!  

DPA installed a panel on the third side of the building at 21 Jarvis St. The panel was created by the participants in a workshop by Susan Champeny the artist who designed and painted Cat Fishing.  It, and the entire mural, is being dedicated to Hailey, a young woman who worked on priming the mural and subsequently committed suicide.

 DPA volunteers also detailed the mural by putting up a black "skirting" under the mural and doing touch up painting. The building itself is in poor condition making it difficult to attach boards to it.

Visiting mural artist Susan Champeny is lending her artistic vision and techniques to the Dept. of Public Art’s efforts to improve blighted buildings in Binghamton. The building at 21 Jarvis St. has become an aquarium with bright fish, and even a playful cat. The mural was painted in one week and installed in two parts this weekend. Local artists painted  along with Susan  at the DPA studio in the basement of theCooperative Gallery 213 State St. Binghamton.

“We are delighted to contribute this vibrant mural to this neighborhood,” said Peg Johnston of the DPA. “There are a lot of children in this area and a lot of pedestrian as well as motorized traffic. And Susan has been a great resource for local artists.”

Susan Champeny works with municipalities, private clients, community health centers, and educational institutions to create murals, mosaics, and recycled materials sculpture. “My goal is to inspire wonder and surprise in the viewer by creating memorable images,” commented Susan Champeny. “I am delighted to improve this neighborhood with art and to tackle a whole house mural project.”

The fight-the-blight-with-art project has also placed a large scale mural on Chenango St. with 11 panels depicting a food theme. Another site is on Glenwood Ave. and two or three other property owners have given permission to place a mural on a boarded up site. This project is made possible with public funds from the Chenango Arts Council’s Decentralization Program, a re-grant program of the NYS Council on the Arts, with support from Governor Cuomo and the NYS Legislature. Additional support for Broome County provided by the Stewart W. & Willma C. Hoyt Foundation.

More information on Facebook page Dept. of Public Art

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DPA: Two New Murals on Glenwood Ave

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Two murals created at Mural Fest and used here on a boarded up building as part of a blight mitigation project funded by the Chenango Co Arts Council, NYS Decentralization grant and the Hoyt Foundation. The Dept of Public Art, a group of volunteers dedicated to public art, are placing original murals on boarded up properties in Binghamton, in an attempt to bring attention to buildings that can be re-purposed and to bring art to neighborhoods with blighted properties. Three other properties have been chosen for new murals and artists may submit proposals by August 19th. Info binghamtonbridgeATgmail.com.

Photo Left mural panel  painted by Jesse Ryan, and on the right by Mural Arts Students, Bracken, Zizak and Yetsko.

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Want a Mural? Free Art for Boarded up Properties

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Mural Fest 2015 (April 26th) created about 30 Movable Murals on 4 X 8' panels to be affixed to boarded up properties in Binghamton neighborhoods. The first installation will be on a building on Chenango Street consisting of 11 food themed murals, given the Northside's lack of a grocery store. The Dept. of Public Art expects to install and celebrate the murals in May.

Other murals are available for property owners who have a boarded up building. And some of the available murals have been painted by world famous artists such as Damien Mitchell, or Nic707, and the Indigo Arts Collective of Brooklyn. Several of the murals were on display at the State St. Block Party. Photos of the murals are available.

If you know of a building that would qualify, please contact binghamtonbridge@gmail.com. Property owners must promise to notify the DPA if the building is renovated, re-purposed, or torn down, so that the mural can be put on another building.

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Mural Fest a Hit!

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31 artists, 7 bands, and huge crowds. The Dept. of Public Art painted 11 panels that will be placed on a boarded up building on Chenango Street in Binghamton. All the panels depict a food theme to make a point about how much the Northside needs a source of fresh food. The installation will be announced on this website. For more photos of the event go to the Dept of Public Art Facebook page.

The Movable Murals on boarded up properties is a new project to “take art into neighborhoods with abandoned buildings,” according to Peg Johnston of the DPA. “As these buildings are re-purposed we can move the mural panels to other locations where property owners request them.” It is supported by grants from the Chenango Co Arts Council and the Hoyt Foundation. *

*The Broome, Chenango & Otsego Decentralization (DEC) Program is administered by the Chenango Arts Council, and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the NYS Legislature. Additional support for Broome County provided by the Stewart W. & Willma C. Hoyt Foundation.

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Virtual Reality Mural Project Celebrated; Community Meeting Planned

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            The Dept. of Public Art is celebrating the completion of their mural project at the Water St. Parking Ramp and looking forward to the next public art projects.

A follow up to the successful Third Thursday meeting will be held Tues Dec 2 7pm at Lost Dog Cafe. The brainstorming from the meeting yielded many ideas and new faces and energy. One major focus is the role of public art in blight remediation, using "movable murals." Another idea is to use trees, gardens and landscaping, including an arboretum of mixed species in the flood plain along the river.

            More about the Virtual Reality Murals: “Punching In” commemorates the Bundy Time Recorder made by the Bundy Time Recording Co., the first to locate at 183-185 Water St, became IBM and led to the computer. “Punching In” on Level 2 C was painted last summer as part of a Mural Arts Training workshop.

            The next business, the Automatic Musical Co., produced player pianos with robotics, another innovation necessary for virtual reality. The complicated robotics are captured in an air brushed mural designed by local artist Zach Wilson and painted by Bruce Greig, also on Level 2 C.

            The Link family bought out that company and added organs to the line and Ed Link Jr. invented the flight simulator there and established a flight school on the property. The mural (on the basement level) depicting the tiny “blue box” or flight simulator shows the magnificent flight of a jet with the caption: “On this site Ed Link invented the flight simulator which transformed how pilots learn to fly.”

In the 1980’s, the American Dance Asylum mounted the Parking Ramp Dances which pioneered blending multi media, video feedback, and dance performances. The 4th floor stencil is of ADA choreographer and dancer Lois Welk.

COMPUTERS + ROBOTICS + SIMULATION + VIDEO FEEDBACK =VIRTUAL REALITY!! 

The “Welcome to the Birthplace of Virtual Reality” mural greets people at the entrance of the Water St. Parking Ramp and shows a “Matrix” like virtual reality grid with computer code. In addition to the flight simulator mural, it was designed and painted by master mural artist Bruce Greig.

            Each level of the ramp represents one of these innovative technologies: time clock, player piano, flight simulator, dancer, and is also a different color, helping people remember where they are parked.

            The Dept of Public Art is a group of volunteers, artists and activists who promote public art and execute public art projects. DPA is sponsored by the Center for Gender, Art, and Culture and the Virtual Reality Mural Project was supported by a grant from the Chenango Arts Council and the Hoyt Foundation. For more information email binghamtonbridge@gmail.com.

 

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Week One of Parking Ramp Mural Project

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Week Two at the Parking Ramp witnessed 20+ volunteers of the APO Service Fraternity descend upon the parking ramp and leave behind lots of color in the stairwells. Part of the overall Virtual Reality project is to improve directions. Each level has a different color and symbol stenciled on each level.

It was a great weekend for public art!! The Dept of Public Art started work on the Water St. Parking Ramp, the Jablons and several helpers worked on mosaics on the planters on Water St. and Kady Perry, Bruce Greig and others began photographing for murals of children on the Flood Wall. The public seemed to appreciate the art too–spare change and dollar bills were donated freely to the DPA, "enough to buy 2-3 gallons of paint" according to organizers. "We are really heartened by the outpouring of support from people using the parking ramp. It is clear that people appreciate what we are doing to improve the ramp," commented Peg Johnston.

Here is a video of Day One, by videographer Mark Urban:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZ26nqa2LuE
 

Video of Day Two, also by videographer Mark Urban; Music by local favorite Dan Pokorak:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PbTjfs_Dag
And there is such a need for improvements. Volunteers, cleaned the stairwells, scraped loose paint off walls, and put color blocks on each level. Artists painted stencils for each level too. The orange first level is the Bundy time clock, which became IBM and led to the computer; the next is green and is the Player Piano level; the blue level is for the Blue Box, the flight simulator that Ed Link invented on the ramp site, and finally the pink Dancer level that represents the Parking Ramp Dances sponsored by the American Dance Asylum.

If you are interested in volunteering, sign up here: www.tinyurl.com/DPAVolunteers.

Many more photos on the Facebook page Dept. of Public Art.

 

 

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