The Bridge

Binghamton's Community Link

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.

 

 

 

At Long Last! Painting in the Parking Ramp

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After two months twiddling our thumbs, the painting of a series of murals depicting the "Birthplace of Virtual Reality" in the Water St. Parking Ramp next to Boscov's, the Dept of Public Art is ready for volunteers to tackle several jobs. "We are looking for all kinds of help, from painting stairs to cutting stencils, to advanced air brush technique," says Shawna "Pepper" Stevenson of the DPA. The weekends of Sept 13-14 and 27-28th and another weekend in October are designated although mural painting may continue on other days. Please sign up to volunteer here www.tinyurl.com/DPAVolunteers.

The Project, which has received funding from the Chenango Co. Arts Council and the Hoyt Foundation, documents the unique history of this location in Binghamton where the "building blocks of virtual reality" were invented, according to Susan Sherwood of the Center for Technology and Innovation, who researched the site. 

1. The Bundy Manufacturing Co. (1893-1906) stood at 183-185 Water St., and became the International Time Recording Co (1906-7) and eventually IBM, which, of course, manufactured some of the first computers.

2. The Automatic Musical Co. (1907-14) took over the site to manufacture player pianos, which were robotic innovations.

3. Ed Link, famously, was sitting on the organ bellows at his father’s Link Piano Co. (1914-1933) and got the idea for the Link Flight Simulators (1929, patented 1931) and started Link Aviation and Flying School in that location (1929-34). The Link “blue box” trained WWII pilots.

4. After the devastating floods in 1935 and ’36 the building was not useable and in the late 60’s the Parking Ramp was built in two sections. The American Dance Asylum celebrated the architecture with several performances of the Parking Ramp Dance, which pioneered multi media, video feedback, and dance performances (1978, 1980, 1981, 1984).

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

Each level of the ramp will document the history and development of the innovative technologies that were created on this one site.

The Department of Public Art is a group of local citizens who are promoting public art; it is an action group under the umbrella of the Center for Gender, Art, and Culture. Donations are needed to further this and other projects. Use the donation button at www.binghamtonbridge.org  (above).

Binghamton is the Birthplace of Virtual Reality? Really? Volunteers Needed!

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(proposed design by Bruce Greig)

 

Binghamton? Virtual Reality? Yes! Not just Binghamton but 183-185 Water St., the site of the Parking Ramp by Boscov’s, is where the building blocks of VIRTUAL REALITY were developed:

1. The Bundy Manufacturing Co. (1893-1906) stood at 183-185 Water St., and became the International Time Recording Co (1906-7) and eventually IBM, which, of course, manufactured some of the first computers.
2. The Automatic Musical Co. (1907-14) took over the site to manufacture player pianos, which were robotic innovations.
3. Ed Link, famously, was sitting on the organ bellows at his father’s Link Piano Co. (1914-1933) and got the idea for the Link Flight Simulators (1929, patented 1931) and started Link Aviation and Flying School in that location (1929-34). The Link “blue box” trained WWII pilots.
4. After the devastating floods in 1935 and ’36 the building was not useable and in the late 60’s the Parking Ramp was built in two sections. The American Dance Asylum celebrated the architecture with several performances of the Parking Ramp Dance, which pioneered multi media, video feedback, and dance performances (1978, 1980, 1981, 1984).
COMPUTERS + ROBOTICS + SIMULATION + VIDEO FEEDBACK = VIRTUAL REALITY!!

 

Each level of the ramp will document the history and development of the innovative technologies that were created on this one site. So, you might remember that you parked on the time clock level or the player piano level. Each level will have a colorful marking in the ramp as well as the stairwells.

The Department of Public Art is a group of local citizens who are working hard to honor our local history with murals in the Water St. Parking Ramp. The Virtual Reality Murals in the Parking Ramp has been funded in part with a NYS Decentralization grant from the Chenango Co. Arts Council and the Hoyt Foundation. The DPA will be painting in the parking ramp in the summer and fall of 2014. Please join us by volunteering, donating money for paint and materials, and by spreading the word about this effort. Info: binghamtonbridge@gmail.com. E-newsletter sign up at www.binghamtonbridge.org.

This project is made possible with public funds from the Chenango Co Arts Council’s Decentralization Program, a re-grant program of the NYS Council on the Arts, with support from Gov. Cuomo and the NYS Legislature. Additional support for Broome County provided by the Stewart W & Wilma C Hoyt Foundation.

Looking for Mural History in Binghamton

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Kady Perry has posted the following query:
I am writing to you to include you on a small project I am working on to document the history of murals in Binghamton/Broome County. I am asking for the who, what, where, when, why and how of your mural project(s) in an effort to build on the rich history of murals in Binghamton. Please see attached. The information that you provide will be included in the timeline that is being created. I will be adding this information to mural publications for the Greater Binghamton area and national websites.

As you may know I entered the scene in 2008, when I conducted research at BU on space and place making. I painted my first mural that year, launched a creative collective in 2010 (QuarterYellow), helped organize 4 mural projects in 2011, started to manage a gallery in 2012 and then helped to launch the Dept of Public Art (DPA) in 2013. In 2014 the community worked to pass ordinance RL-13-193 establishing an advisory board for public art. In addition, this year I am working with the Director of the Philly Mural Arts program to build up the DPA, am managing 4 public art projects in downtown Binghamton, partnering with reBOLD Binghamotn to have a May Mural Arts Festival, hosting a mural jam in August and will be teaching ARTS 230 Producing Public Murals this June at BCC. In 2015 I hope to launch a mural arts company with my partner Bruce Greig.

I am not fully aware of past projects and find it very important to include information on them. Also, please let me know if you are engaged in any future projects, so that they can be documented as well. QuarterYellow@gmail.com.

 

I want to see _________in Binghamton.

Stickers and Chalkboards solicit neighborhood opinion. Locations at Eldredge and Way St. Upper Chenango St., Court and Carroll St. and Court St. next to RiverRead Books.

Flood Wall Mural

Kady Perry puts finishing touches on a mural on Water St. in Binghamton to commemorate the terrible impact of the 2011 floods. The project was sponsored by the S.O.M. Scholars at Binghamton University. The students pick a community project each year and this year the projects are flood related. Previous projects have been the Discovery Center Story Garden and the Laurel Community Garden among others.

Kady Perry, a Binghamton muralist, spoke with groups of flood victims through Project Renew, a mental health project for those affected by the floods. She created a “wordle” based on their words. The flood wall was painted green for a great length of the wall which is a popular walking/biking trail that skirts the river all the way to Cheri Lindsay Park beyond the Binghamton Plaza. “Passersby were yelling encouragement all weekend,” Perry noted.

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