Tilted Arc was a public sculpture by Richard Serra. Commissioned by the General Service Administration (GSA) in 1981 the artwork was installed in Foley Federal Plaza in Manhattan. The sculpture was a long unfinished plate of rust-covered COR-TEN steel that stoods 12 feet tall and 120 feet wide out of the ground at a slight angle and curve. When it was introduced it garnered much negativity from the general public as it interrupted the flow of pedestrian traffic in the plaza. People had to walk around it. This interruption was actually Serra’s main intent with the sculpture, to quote Phillip Barcio from Ideelart.com, “He wanted to purposefully redirect that traffic, not just as an annoyance, but as a way to alter the perceptual reality of the people who used the space. He wanted them to stop and consider their surroundings, and to think about the space they were passing through.” This redirection worked a little bit too well and tested the average person's appreciation for the arts. Over the years complaints were submitted, with two petitions gaining over 1,300 signatures and a public hearing where 180 people spoke resulted in the eventual removal of the sculpture in 1989. To look at how communities react to public art, we can see in this case an overall negative reaction from the community. Serra made this sculpture specifically for the plaza which is why it couldn’t simply be moved somewhere else. The course of events reveals many things about art’s role in a public space. Many critics suggest that the reaction is justified. Maybe if this community was consulted or even if the sculpture was put in a more suitable environment (a more recreational area like a park) perhaps the reaction would’ve been different while still achieving the same effect. Public art takes up space. Should artists consider the people who use it, not just in concept but also in practice? If a piece like Tilted Arc interrupts the flow of a space and impacts community members everyday lives, should the community be consulted and involved in the decision-making? Does public art have to be appreciated? These are the pointed questions that Serra’s Tilted Arc raises. Questions: Do you think that Tilted Arc might be appreciated in another environment? Or is this beside the point? What do you think the course of events says about the privilege that artists like Richard Serra have? Barcio, Phillip. “Why Was Richard Serra's Tilted Arc So Controversial?” Ideelart, 31 May, 2019, https://www.ideelart.com/magazine/why-was-richard-serra-s-tilted-arc-so-controversial. Mundry, Jennifer. “Lost Art: Richard Serra.” Tate, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/richard-serra-1923/lost-art-richard-serra.

“The fact of the matter is that 5Pointz made the neighborhood better, more vibrant, and more desirable—it helped create the real-estate demand that eventually led to its displacement.” -Chris Giblin, Citylimits.org In the 1970s a building in Long Island City, Queens was purchased by Jerry Wolkoff who left it empty. As years went by it lay dormant and local graffiti artists started to reclaim the building. In 1993 graffiti artist, Jonathan Cohen, who used the tag “Meres One” officially declared it as a graffiti space under the name of “5 Pointz” which not only refers to the 5 boroughs but is a reference to the infamous 19th-century immigrant neighborhood in the Lower East Side at the intersection of five streets (that was made legendary in Martin Scorsese's’ film “Gangs of New York”). With the permission of Jerry Wolkoff, 5 Pointz became a mecca for aerosol art and creativity in general. It became a space ultimately for the community and a safe space for artists to practice and show off their greatest work. People from all over the world came to visit it. In the beginning graffiti in the 1970s and 80s was heavily criminalized, but the popularity of 5 Pointz helped to establish graffiti and aerosol art as a legitimate art form. What is criminal is that 5 Pointz no longer exists! On the night of November 19th, 2013, 5 Pointz was secretly whitewashed, erasing decades of praised pieces and tags. The owner Jerry Wolkoff planned for the factory building to be demolished and replaced with residential buildings. It caused quite an uproar! To quote street art writer Lois Stavsky from StreetArtNYC, “5Pointz's heartless destruction profoundly saddened not only the artists who called it home and those who traveled there from across the globe but all of us who loved the creativity and camaraderie that it represented.” There was an overall negative reaction from the community of artists and residents near and far. After vigils, protests, and ultimately lawsuits to protect the art. The court ruled in favor of Wolkoff and the building was fully demolished in 2014. More recently in 2020, the Supreme Court decided to not hear the case of G & M Reality who was responsible for the whitewashing in 2013 and this resulted in $6.75 million for the destruction of the public art of 5 Pointz. This money went to the artists whose pieces were destroyed. While this was a “win” for the artist community that was 5 Pointz, the city has lost this mecca of street art. If we were to look to an ideal future city where art and expression are held at a higher priority, there would be more locations like 5 Pointz, large-scale sites where people can enter an environment of art and creation, free to experiment and build their skills as artists while having the support of a community. "“When I first began visiting 5Pointz in 2011, I was struck by the community's warmth and genuine respect. Beginners painted alongside masters of the craft, who enthusiastically shared their know-how and experience. Accomplished artists, beginners, and admirers all felt at home at 5Pointz. Its wholesome and democratic atmosphere invited all styles and modes of creative expression” - Rachel Fawn Alban" -Google Arts & Culture Questions: What do you think the state of Graffiti and street art culture in NYC would be like if 5 Pointz still existed Do you think a location like this could exist again in NYC? Do you think there would be more or less regulations? Cramer, Maria. “Artists Have Final Victory in a Case of Destroyed Graffiti.” The New York Times, 6 October, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/06/nyregion/graffiti-artists-5pointz.html. Giblin, Chris. “After 5 Pointz: Street Art Thrives and Evolves in Uneasy Dance with Development.” City Limits, 8 July, 2016, https://citylimits.org/2016/07/08/after-5-pointz-street-art-thrives-and-evolves-in-uneasy-dance-with-development/#:~:text=The%20gentrification%20tag\&text=The%20fact%20of%20the%20matter,eventually%20led%20to%20its%20displacement. Stavsky, Lois. “5 POINTZ NYC.” Street Art NYC, Google Arts & Culture, https://artsandculture.google.com/story/5-pointz-nyc-street-art-nyc/DQVxhU5h1AQA8A?hl=en.

In 2016, Chinatown Art Brigade teamed up with CAAAV's Chinatown Tenants' Union (CTU) to put on a year-long exhibition that was featured all around Chinatown and the Lower East Side in the form of projections that shared messages of “gentrification, displacement, and community resilience in NYC's Chinatown.” Made for and with the community, each projection was taken from “Artwork based on oral histories, placekeeping walks, and maps created during community-led workshops” all run by the Chinatown Art Brigade. In addition, community members could write their concerns on the "people's pad” that projected their words and drawings onto the side of buildings. This type of engagement demonstrated a positive reaction from the community. In Here To Stay the role of artist and community is merged. In this project, we see a group of people who share not only a space but a culture join together under a common goal and create art that voices their opinions to and with the community. The goal was to jumpstart a conversation about the gentrification of Chinatown engaging community members who are too often left out of decisions that impact their lives. Below, Betty Yu, who was a key figure and one of the lead artists in the Chinatown Art Brigade Speaks more about Here To Stay and the process and reaction the community took part in, talking about how people got involved, their eagerness in doing so and who they were trying to reach.

This is an interview with artist and media maker Betty Yu of the Chinatown Art Brigade conducted in Fall 2023. https://www.chinatownartbrigade.org/ Questions: How might this participatory approach to public art be translated to other issues, maybe one that affects you personally? Would you take part in a project like this?