Two Percent for Art Projects Receive Unanimous Approval from the Public Design Commission

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For Immediate Release: January 18, 2024

Contact: publicaffairs@culture.nyc.gov

TWO PERCENT FOR ART PROJECTS RECEIVE UNANIMOUS APPROVAL FROM THE PUBLIC DESIGN COMMISSION

Artist Jennifer Wen Ma's Wings of Everchange will incorporate the voices of Chinatown residents into the rebuilt community hub at 70 Mulberry in Manhattan

Artist Justin Valdes' design for the Arverne Library in Rockaway, Queens – titled The Feeling is Mutual - integrates playful murals throughout the building that pay tribute to local community, landscape, flora, and fauna

New York – The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) today announced that two permanent, public artworks being commissioned through the agency’s Percent for Art program received approval from the city’s Public Design Commission (PDC) this week. The PDC approved conceptual designs for the three-part art installation – Wings of Everchange 易之翼 - by visual artist Jennifer Wen Ma for the new 70 Mulberry building in Chinatown; they also approved preliminary designs for artist Justin Valdes’s proposal for a series of murals for Queens Public Library’s (QPL) Arverne branch, The Feeling is Mutual.

70 Mulberry Street – Artist Jennifer Wen Ma

Ma was selected to design the art in 70 Mulberry following a community engagement process led by DCLA in summer 2023. The Percent for Art program requires that one percent of the budget for eligible City-funded construction projects be spent on public artwork by artists from all backgrounds, reflecting the diversity of New York City.

“Congratulations to Jennifer Wen Ma, whose inspiring Wings of Everchange proposal taps into the history of Manhattan’s Chinatown to create a beautiful focal point for this community hub,” said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. “Public art can do so much to bring us together and express who we are, and Ma’s thoughtful proposal gives residents and community members a way to have their voices and experiences integrated into this important project in a poignant, profound way.”

“This will be a beautiful, stunning, permanent art project that embodies the cultural and historic importance of 70 Mulberry,” said DDC Commissioner Thomas Foley. “It will connect the building’s past -- before a fire destroyed the facility -- present, and future. DDC is one of the leading agencies for ‘Percent for Art.’ We appreciate and recognize the importance of public art and we are sure tenants, visitors, and the community will enjoy Jennifer Wen Ma’s artwork.”

“Our community has gone through so many challenges and changes,” said artist Jennifer Wen Ma. “I set out to make a work that would embrace these changes, honoring our history, anchoring us in the present and taking us soaring into the future. I am thrilled that the conceptual design has been approved, so I can begin the real work -- reaching deep into our community to create a collaborative project that will share with the world how our resilience, adaptability, and willingness to embrace change make us stronger than ever.”

The building 70 Mulberry Street is a historic facility in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood which was home to a number of community, cultural, and social service organizations before a devastating fire severely damaged the building in January 2020. DDC is leading the renovation of the structure following the fire.

Sculpture in Atrium

The first part of the Wings of Everchange 易之翼 installation includes a suspended sculpture in the shape of an abstract mythological creature for the building’s atrium. The wings unfurling from the creature’s body are shaped after Chinese calligraphic brush strokes, using keywords gathered from community members on the profound significance of 70 Mulberry and people’s aspirations for its future. The sculpture, measuring approximately 33 feet long, will be made of metal, glass and a collection of salvaged objects from the fire that devasted the building in 2020.

Concept render of the suspended sculpture in 70 Mulberry’s atrium. The sculpture will contain glass amber orbs that will host oral history by community members

Oral History

The sculpture’s glass amber orbs will serve as time capsules. Each orb is dedicated to a person, or a group of people, and will hold their memories and stories about the building, creating an oral history archive. Select ambers will be filled with oral history in the years following the installation of the artworks, connecting the past with the future of the new building. Additionally, a website and app will host the oral histories where the public can click on an interactive map and access audio recordings. Ma plans to invite 70 Mulberry community members to participate and contribute stories to the time-capsule ambers, aiming to create a vibrant collection of voices and stories that reflect the diversity of this community's history and experiences.

Rendering using Ma’s prior artwork demonstrates the effect of painting mounted on glass, which will be featured in the building’s stair tower

Ink Painting Stair Tower

The atrium sculpture’s concept will be continued through an ink painting in the building’s stair tower. A long meandering ink painting will be presented on the glass panels of the wind shaft, spiraling up five stories and leading towards the building’s skylight. The paintings will be made in the artist's studio, then the images will be reprinted and transferred to the inner-side of the glass panels on site. The paintings will be gestural and abstract, while incorporating figurative elements, related to the people who have occupied and loved this building.

More information about Ma is here: https://www.littlemeat.net/about.

Queens Public Library’s Arverne Library – Artist Justin Valdes

The Feeling is Mutual, artist Justin Valdes’ proposal for as series of playful murals for QPL’s Arverne branch in the Far Rockaway neighborhood of Queens, also received unanimous approval from the PDC for its preliminary designs (preliminary designs are the second stage of PDC review for Percent for Art commissions).

Justin Valdes, The Feeling is Mutual. Bathroom murals inspired by the Atlantic Ocean.

Valdes’ proposal includes playful drawings and murals throughout the library inspired by his extensive experience of life and people in the Rockaways. It includes illustrations turned into “distraction graphics” which will be installed on glass doors and dividers throughout the building. The proposal also includes drawings and installations that fill all of the library’s bathrooms with dozens of engaging artworks, all deeply rooted in and inspired by the Rockaways.

Justin Valdes, The Feeling is Mutual. Distraction graphics.

“The drawings communicate daily observations that speak to environmental concerns, tech habits, pets, surfing, and larger thoughts about life. Humor is often a part of these drawings. My goal is that they have a universal quality that can reach across age, ethnicity, and class. The work I plan to install in the library will reflect the spirit of community and mutual aid and the joy that comes with it. Helping each other, standing up for what’s right, reshaping the world into a better one is the theme that will guide this work,” said artist Justin Valdes.

“Justin Valdes’s proposal for the Arverne library works on so many levels. The illustrations that make up his murals are immediately engaging, fun, and joyful, while on closer inspection, they contain a profound understanding of – and love for – the Rockaway community. We are thrilled by the PDC’s unanimous approval, and can’t wait to continue working with Justin, the Queens Public Library, and Rockaway community to realize this exciting public art project,” said Kendal Henry, DCLA Assistant Commissioner for Public Art.

“Public art helps make our libraries even more inspiring, prompting people to view the world from new perspectives and sparking conversations,” said QPL President and CEO Dennis M. Walcott. “Justin Valdes’s drawings, deeply rooted in the Rockaways, reflect the spirit of this community and its profound connection to the surrounding nature, and we are thrilled that this Percent for Art project will adorn the Arverne Library annex.”

Justin Valdes, The Feeling is Mutual. Window Mural.

The artwork will be located in a 4,600 square foot addition to the existing 5,400 square foot Arverne Library. The new annex will provide a large multi-purpose meeting room with associated facilities, and improve delivery and accessibility of public services to the community. It will also feature many “green” characteristics, such as solar panels for the production of electrical energy and skylights designed to optimize the use of daylight. To increase protection from flooding, the addition will be elevated and contain flood vents. Work is anticipated to begin later this year.

Arverne Library annex rendering, courtesy Rice + Lipka Architects.

Valdes’ conceptual proposal for this project previously received conceptual approval from the PDC in November of 2021. At the time, the PDC issued its approval “with the understanding that the artist will study expanding the artwork throughout additional areas of the library and using the illustrations as wayfinding.” The updated proposal integrates the design in new spaces throughout the library building, including in the restrooms. With preliminary approval received this week, the project can now move forward with design, fabrication, and installation.

More information on about Valdes is available here: https://www.justinvaldes.work/.

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About DCLA

The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) is dedicated to supporting and strengthening New York City’s vibrant cultural life. DCLA works to promote and advocate for quality arts programming and to articulate the contribution made by the cultural community to the City’s vitality. The Department represents and serves nonprofit cultural organizations involved in the visual, literary, and performing arts; public-oriented science and humanities institutions including zoos, botanical gardens, and historic and preservation societies; and creative artists at all skill levels who live and work within the City’s five boroughs. DCLA also provides donated materials for arts programs offered by the public schools and cultural and social service groups, and commissions permanent works of public art at City-funded construction projects throughout the five boroughs. For more information visit www.nyc.gov/culture.