Hip Hop is a culture rife with soul and artistry; its rich history is integral to that of New York City out of which it was born. The urban changes of the 1970s and 80s- including urban renewal, "white flight," urban disinvestment, and the "burning of The Bronx"- saw the emergence of the revolutionary DJ'ing, MC'ing, breakdancing, graffiti, and culture that would become known as Hip Hop. Despite this close relationship, Hip Hop does not get the respect or attention it deserves from the city of its birth. In this collection of walks, I will address how Hip Hop emerged from the NYC of the 1970s and 80s, showcasing some key historical monuments and figures of Hip Hop, as well as critiquing how Hip Hop has been or has not been, received, appreciated and celebrated by the city in which it was born.

Neptune Meter Company Factory, 1910.

Public art represents and is represented with many different forms and ideas, its creation, concept and location all come into play when looking at a piece's place in an urban landscape such as New York City. Public art takes up a space, one that is always shared with a community, part of this story would like to address how the two intersect. In some cases a piece can even cultivate its own community, in the case of 5 Pointz, which in itself was its own piece of public art but also a space that created a community of artists. The Graffiti Mecca can also lead us to ask the question, “What is considered public art and where is the line drawn?” This question will be explored as well as looking to an ideal future for a city where public art is put at a higher priority and invested in. Where graffiti artists aren’t criminalized for their work or commodified for profit. Take a look at spaces and experiences where communities are represented and enhanced by public art, while considering the way public art can give back and engage all people in ways of expressing themselves.

To celebrate our 10 year anniversary, we're revisiting highlights collected from different neighborhoods as part of the Queens Memory project. We began collecting oral history interviews and photos in the summer of 2010. Later that year, a grant from the Metro Library Council launched the project as a partnership between Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY. Since then we've recorded hundreds of oral history interviews and collected photographs from Queens residents from 23 countries of origin, living in 50 neighborhoods.

5Pointz was claimed as the "World's Premier Graffiti Mecca," attracting international artists and graffiti writers to cover the outside walls of the disused factory on the outskirts of Queens. Inside, hundreds of artists occupied studios that formed a collaborative community of makers. The same developer who made the growth of the space possible would ultimately call for its demise.