Times Square Arts has announced a new public artist-in-residence program, an experimental residency model that responds to the uniqueness of Times Square and its public art program by pairing socially engaged artists with Times Square's massive network of businesses, nonprofits, hotels, restaurants, and more.
The first artist-in-residence is Christine Wong Yap, a Queens-based artist who often uses printmaking, drawing, and social practice to explore psychological well-being. Wong Yap will collaborate with Encore Community Services, a support program based in Times Square and Hells Kitchen that provides meals and social services to elderly New Yorkers. The resulting public art project - a series of flags representing the individual seniors' sources of resilience - will be displayed throughout Times Square beginning on Flag Day, June 14, 2021. Leading up to the project launch, Wong Yap will work directly with seniors through flag-making workshops to share their personal stories around resilience, perseverance, and coping through adversities. The flag fabrication will also engage local seamsters and costumers in the theater community, another group that has been particularly vulnerable over the last year with the closure of Broadway and other performance spaces.
The socially engaged residency program was created in response to the powerful ideas and artworks artists have generated throughout recent moments of political and cultural upheaval. The program is launched based on the belief that artists are visionary thinkers and creative problem solvers, that novel ideas and collaborations are necessary in response to the current crises, and that Times Square's unique characteristics as both a public space and a cultural and commercial district are vital in tackling the social, cultural, and political challenges we face as a city and a society.
Throughout the pandemic, Times Square has served as a vital platform for showcasing public art that speaks to our current moment. Times Square Arts has presented multiple public art projects over the past several months that have provided a space for artists to share messages of solidarity, hope, political action, and creative expression - including Robin Frohardt's The Plastic Bag Store, which tackled climate change and plastic overconsumption; Rashaad Newsome's Midnight Moment which addressed the AIDS epidemic and pandemic that has disproportionately affected Black communities; and Messages for the City, a collaborative public art campaign in Times Square and across NYC that brought together over 50 artists to share positive messages. This residency program continues to reflect Times Square Arts Director Jean Cooney's vision of Times Square as both a stage of inspiration and a toolbox of resources for artists.
The residency will support one artist per year for a 6-month period who has demonstrated a socially-engaged practice and shows a commitment to fostering meaningful connections both within and beyond the art community. As part of the program, Times Square Arts will facilitate connections with individuals and organizations in Times Squares' unique community, including a diverse range of people representing Broadway theaters, restaurants, retail, hotels, real estate, law, finance, senior services, media and advertising, technology, small businesses and vendors, as well as Times Square's internal departments, such as sanitation. The program provides artists with the tools to match the scale of Times Square. Artists will receive a fee, and any resources and expertise that the broader Times Square Alliance team can provide. Artists may be eligible for additional funding toward the public presentation of their artwork in Times Square.
