COURIER LIFE, SEPT. 18-24, 2020 29
OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
City arts honchos unveiled a pair of
photo exhibits on construction fences
along two public housing complexes in
Red Hook last week, sprucing up the
drab and omnipresent building sites’
barriers by allowing local artists to
display their work.
The “Bridging the Divide” program
by the New York City Housing Authority
— which was done in partnership
with the Department of Cultural Affairs
and the arts nonprofi t ArtBridge
— launched last week and will host
two exhibits at the Red Hook Houses
East and West projects for about six
months to beautify the barricades.
The photo series “Red Hook Look”
by local youth mentor, photographer,
and videographer Alden Parkinson
centers on community members such
as a local basketball coach, a school
crossing guard, fruit stall vendors, and
neighborhood kids, which the artist
hopes will provide a counter-narrative
to the often negative portrayals of NYCHA
residents of the waterfront nabe.
“A lot of people outside of the neighborhood,
they paint their own picture
rather than seeing it for themselves
and we don’t appreciate that,” said
Parkinson, who also lives in Red Hook
Houses. “The people in my pictures
are really talented at what they do and
they also support the community.”
Parkinson’s images are in black
and white with part of the picture colorized,
such as a basketball, fruit, or
a crossing guard vest — which highlights
the work people are doing.
The exhibit is installed along Columbia
Street near Center Mall and
the photographer wanted people coming
from outside the waterfront nabe
— for example en route to Swedish furniture
emporium Ikea down the street
— will get a glimpse of a community
they don’t interact with much.
“If people would stop and see what’s
going on here, that would mean a lot to
me,” Parkinson said.
The ubiquitous construction fencing
at Red Hook Houses is part of a massive
$550 million federal resiliency upgrade
to the 40-acre complex which started in
2017, to storm-proof the buildings after
they got battered during Superstorm
Sandy in 2012.
Residents and activists took to the
street in protest in late July demanding
more transparency from the city on the
large-scale construction project, saying
that the building works have taken
over the entire development and left little
outdoor space and seating for locals
amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Another
exhibit by Harumi Ori captures moments
in time in the neighborhood.
The $30,000 arts project was funded
by ArtBridge and is part of the Cultural
Affairs Department’s City Canvas program,
which seeks to transform construction
fencing and sidewalk sheds
as art works around the city.
Red Hook marks the fi rst installation
along public housing fencing, and
the city plans to expand it to other NYCHA
developments in Manhattan and
the Bronx in the fall, according to offi
cials.
Off the
walls!
City debuts photo
exhibits along NYCHA
fences in Red Hook
DON’T FENCE ME IN: (Above) Alden Parkinson’s
photo series “Red Hook Look” at
Columbia Street shows residents and community
leaders at Red Hook Houses. (Left)
Harumi Ori’s exhibit “I am Here @ Red Hook
Houses” features moments time, exhibited
on Hicks Street between W. Ninth and Mill
streets. Photos by Monique McField/ArtBridge