Art in the Hood. Mural on 51st

 

I always wanted to photograph this mural but it was always blocked with vendors and vans parked in front of it. Yesterday I happened by and I guess because of the cold there was nothing to block the view. It has been there a few years and it is a bit weathered. It's located on the corner of 51st street and 5th Avenue.

 

 

 

A Sunset Park Story Telling Event Tomorrrow (Friday)

The website DNAinfo New York has a piece on an upcoming event in which many local artists and residents will participate in telling their stories in a Sunset Park themed. The event will take place at the Recreation Center which is located inside Sunset Park (The park itself). According to0 the website;

"The Five Boro Story Project is teaming up with the Laundromat Project’s "Create Change" program, an initiative that seeks to connect communities and artists, for “Stories at Sunset,” which will take place from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Sunset Park Recreation Center located at 43rd Street and Seventh Avenue."

 So, if you haven't heard about it and you have time to kill by all means drop in. The event is FREE.

 

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Art is back in Sunset Park

After a short lapse art is back in Sunset Park. When Industry City turned over ownership and development plans many artists who had rented space there had to look for other less expensive digs due to thee raise in rents. For a while Sunset Park was loosing creative people to other parts and other boroughs. Now it appears they are making a comeback, this time at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. The local NYC channel NY1 has a video covering this story on their website..

 

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Sunset Park on The Web: New art, Photos, Charity Walk

The Brooklyn Paper does a writeup on local artist Rachel Youen and her current food based art show at the 440 Gallery in Park Slope.

A New York photo blogger named Kitty took the above shot while visiting our Chinatown in our neighborhood. For more shots of New York visit her blog..

A local SunsetPark Charity for cancer awareness is holding a walk on Saturday, September 10th. See their event post here or visit their facebook page here..

Sunset Park Around The Web 8-12-14

 

There is a plethora of stories about our nabe on the internet today. The first story first appeared in The NY Daily News and has since been picked up by numerous websites and blogs is about "Flunked scammers who ran Sunset Park school repay families and teachers". The Home Reporter did a story on a workshop held at the local Library with regards to the DOT's "Vision Zero" plans that were implemented on the Sunset Park strip of 4th Avenue. The workshop was sponsored by Carlos Menchaca's office. ART HAPS has a post announcement on a show at the Tabla Raza Gallery here in Sunset Park that is running from August 16 to September 27. DNA has a story on the return of the "Atlas Cops and Kids Boxing Club"to Sunset Park.  Want to win free tickets to a rooftop movie event this weekend to see "R100"? Check out Vice.com to find out how..

 Image Tabla Raza Gallery. Show coming August 16.

Utrecht Artists' Paints In Sunset Park Under Improvement

When my father was alive and living in Sunset Park since 1970, being an artist/painter he occasionally used Utrecht paints in his work. Although he never attained wide fame his paintings showed at Galleries in Manhattan such Minerva Arts and Ligoa Duncan (who was a niece of Isadora Duncan). Before emigrating to the United States he was a member of Asociación Estímulo de Bellas Artes of Argentina and shared a Studio with Guido Cinti. In New York he was a member of New York Artists Equity Association. My father was listed was listed in Marquis' Who's Who in the east and Who's Who in the world because of his art. In any case, when one paints and uses a product he never gives any thought as to where the paints are made or manufactured. Who knew? We were in the same neighborhood where Utrecht artist paints are manufactured. The New York Post has an article on the 20,000 sq. foot plant located right here in Sunset Park which has been in operation for over 60 years. Recently Utrecht  Art was bought by rival Blick Art based out of Illinois and Blick is investing money into the plant.  So if you're a local artist in Sunset Park or in New York City give the paints a try and support a local institution and the local economy..

Image from NYPOST Robert Markus in front of new machinery to fill tubes brought into the Utrech paint manufacturing plant.

Photo: Helayne Seidman
CHECK OUT THE ARTICLE IN THE NEW YORK POST

Art in The Hood: Tragedy on the third rail..

Sunset Park has always been a neighborhood abundant with street art. I have documented a lot of the wall art as I come across it in my Art in The Hood series. Some of the artists who appear in the hood are many times more often than not from outside the neighborhood and not all art appears on our walls. There was a heyday when the terminal at the 9th Avenue station was a primary target of  taggers before the MTA started to clean the cars. The Gothamist reports that a graffiti artist named Jason Wulf, 42,  who was known by his tag DG met an untimely demise by apparently deciding to try his art in the caverns of our subway system at the 25th street train station on the N line. It's a pity that a life is cut short by an obsession. Sometimes you take unnecessary or dumb risks and you pay the price for such folly. You can read more about it at the Gothamist here..

Art in the Hood: Sunset Park Artists and the SOHO of Brooklyn's Short Lived Life

     It was hoped that when Bush Terminal was bought by some developers and renamed Industry City a few years back that Sunset Park would evolve into a center of the arts for Brooklyn and New York City. But starting late last year some disturbing stories began to appear in the news. In particular some articles in the New York Times. As someone who walks every corner of the neighborhood and what I call the PASUBA (Park Slope, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge) corridor on either side of 4th Avenue, I have seen the slow wave of gentrification creeping along southward towards Bay Ridge that began when Real Estate agents renamed the norther part of the neighborhood south of 17th street Greenwood Heights so they could rent apartments and sell houses at a higher price. As this wave of hipsters begins to move south with it come higher real estate prices and higher rents driving out long time local residents that now find it difficult to survive  in the gentrified areas.  There are two aspects to this encroachment. On the one hand one is seeing more upscale restaurants and bars appearing along 4th and 5th Avenues. On the other hand, artists who settled here because of the cheaper rents are now finding themselves priced out of the market. The moving in of the Brooklyn Nets as a tenant at Industry City certainly didn't help matters. The result is that a diaspora of artists has begun and is accelerating out of the neighborhood. The most recent article published last week in the Times confirrms this. As does this piece on another blog..

    There were high hopes that with all the artists moving into Sunset Park we would become a center of creativity and a magnet for other aspects of the arts, such as music etc.. All is not lost however, as there are still some artists remaining. At least those who can afford the higher rents. There are other warehouses on the other side of third avenue that could well become artists spaces. perhaps someone with an inventive mind could perhaps firgure out a way to get some city money to subsidize rents for artists spaces. Why not? We waste money on a lot of useless stuff in this country and city and putting it into art has at least some long term gain. If there is one constant in Sunset Park as most residents know, it is change. And more often than not, it's not for the better.

Art in the Hood: Bees for Sunset Park

Someone recently pointed me to the iron fence that surrounds the D train station at 9th avenue and 39th street. I had not noticed before then that that the gate and the fence had a bee motif and that the gates had been made to look like honeycombs riddled with Bees. The installation apparently dates back to 2012 and the station attendants weren't even aware that it was there. The artist Christopher Russel has some fine pictures of it at his website. Most users of the train probably haven't noticed it either as the rush to the station to catch the train. The New York Times did a writeup on the gates when they were put up. If you haven't seen them or were unaware they were there you can visit the station and take a look. 

Art in the Hood: Rite Aid Mural on 4th Becomes New Local Landmark

The mural on the Rite Aid store at 63rd street and 4th Avenue is well on it's way to becoming a new local landmark. The completed mural depicts scenes of Brooklyn but none of the neighborhood. The manager had told me that they were discussing doing a mural  on the Rite Aid on 5th and hopefully that will include scenes of the neighborhood such as the gate at Greenwood Cemetery or Battle Hill where an important engagement of the Battle of Brooklyn took place. Whatever turns out the mural on 4th is a nice piece of  mural art which has evolved from graffiti.  As time goes on and more people in the neighborhood become aware of it the more it will become known. Below are links to our previous postings on the mural since it's inception. Of note is also the fact that this Rite Aid becomes one of the few pharmacies in Brooklyn that is now open 24 hours..

Related Link: Art in The Hood: Rite Aid on 4th gets a new paint job

Related Link: Changes on the wall...

More photos below..

Art in the Hood: Bansky strikes in Sunset Park

The celebrated UK street artist who has been playing a hide and seek game with the NYPD Graffiti squad has hit our neighborhood. A crew from the Gothamist went down to take pictures. But why a truck? Don't we have enough empty walls in the nabe? Should we consider it an insult that he painted a truck which could drive away rather than a wall which would be more permanent? In any case, which so much negative stuff happening in the nabe these last few days it makes for a bit more lighthearted happening. The question is. Is thee above art or vandalism? I rather opine for the latter. Nothing artistic about the above. A third grader could have painted that. Common Bansky! If you're going to invade our neighborhood paint something more "artistic".

Related links:

Gothamist

WPIX 11

Art in The Hood: UPROSE mural 25th street and 4th Avenue

This mural on the corner of 25th street and 4th Avenue done last year by the same crew from Groundswell that did the mural on 7th Avenue takes the whole side of the C Town supermarket located on the same corner. It's on the section of Sunset Park which real estate agents for marketing reasons have dubbed Greenwood Heights. It's a rather impressive mural to see and rather than being done by a professional crew it is even more impressive for the fact that it was done by volunteer students..

Art in The Hood: Tacos El Bronco 44th and 4th Ave.

Commissioned by the restaurant of the same name located on the corner of 44th street and 4th Avenue this mural is Mexican themed as reflecting many of the residents of the area. You'll have to visit the location to see the mural in full. It seems the neighborhood is becoming a center of urban wall art..

Art in the Hood: Mural Southwest Corner 32nd Street

Located on the Southwest corner of 32nd street and 4th Avenue this mural appears to have been painted sometime in 2012 by a guy whose tag is Vers. He has a website at VERSGRAFX.COM where he showcases his other work.. There are two other works on this intersection done by other artists. I will be posting those in the coming days.

Changes on the wall...

A slight controversy arose at the painting of the Mural at Rite Aid on 4th and 63rd street. Apparently management at Rite Aid did not want any human faces on the wall (photos below) and asked that they be replaced by animals instead. The new version is the one that will remain. I managed to snap a picture of the wall before the changes so we can keep it for posterity. In any case, the walls are coming along just fine and will be a fine addition to the many points of interest in the neighborhood. Maybe it will entice our neighbors in Park Slope and Bay Ridge to venture across the frontiers of our neighborhoods to come take a look. Being as most people in this city according to one study I read, rarely venture outside a radius of 7 blocks from where they live. Part of the purpose of this blog is to cover the nabe from end to end as well as our neighbors who all have something to offer so we can appreciate the world around us beyond those seven blocks..

While speaking to who I think was the manager he told me they are considering doing the wall on the Rite Aid on 5th and 53rd street. I suggested they could use a more local theme such as the entrance gates at Green Wood Cemetery or the statue of Minerva (sister to the Statue of Liberty, maybe perhaps a scene from the Battle of Brooklyn which took place on Battle Hill where the Delaware regiment sacrificed themselves to prevent the British from capturing Washington. There are a lot of themes one could come up with which are relevant to the nabe and it's history and it would be Brooklyn themed.

As it looks now.

Before..

Art in the Hood: Groundswell Mural on 7th Ave and 63rd street

I took this and the following shots a while ago and never got around to posting them. But since my post yesterday highlighting another mural on 4th Avenue I figured I would post these. This mural known as the Groundswell Mural is on the overpass on 7th Avenue and 63rd street. It was painted over two years ago and you can read all about it here with accompanying links to a slide show. There are other murals I have shot as well. I will have to dig up the pics or go back and reshoot them. Sunset Park has a lot of art on it's walls..