West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT US
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result
SUPPORT THE RAG

Search the site

No Result
View All Result
Get WSR FREE in your inbox
SUPPORT THE RAG

Vacant Storefronts on Columbus Avenue Will Display Local Art in October: Artist Applications Due Sept 30th

September 7, 2020 | 12:46 PM
in ART, NEWS, OUTDOORS
15
Wouldn’t this make a great gallery window?

By Carol Tannenhauser

There are a lot of empty storefronts between 67th and 77th Streets on Columbus Avenue. While most of us bemoan their demise, one Upper West Sider saw in them an opportunity to bring to a hurting community a time-tested source of healing and hope: art.

Starting around October 26th, the windows of the vacant stores from 67th through 77th Streets will transform that stretch of Columbus Avenue into an outdoor, socially distanced art gallery, displaying the carefully curated works of local artists.

Upper West Sider Barbara Anderson spearheaded the project, which is called “Art on the Ave”. Other members of the team include her daughter, Jackie Graham, and colleague Leigh Majer. All three are teachers. They have also enlisted the aid of Lisa Dubois, an artist, photojournalist, director and curator of X Gallery in Harlem.

“We thought about art and its ability to provoke dialogue,” they explain on their website. “Putting art in public spaces – the streets and sidewalks that took on a whole new significance through the lockdown, the protests, and the economic downturn – could be our way forward.”

The deadline for applications is September 30th. Here is what Art on the Ave is seeking:

…we wish for artists to be guided by the notions of perspective, healing, and telling a new story. Submissions should reflect in a literal or symbolic way Art on the Ave’s values. Inclusivity, empathy, equity, growth, action, and activism are some of the key values that can be integrated.

We are looking for artists with a story to tell. This three-month long exhibit will be a platform for new voices.

For more information about Art on the Ave, as well as details about submissions, go to their website.

Share this article:
SUPPORT THE RAG
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

15 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Martha
Martha
4 years ago

What a great idea! I’m excited.

0
Reply
Bob Lamm
Bob Lamm
4 years ago

Wonderful. Thanks in advance to everyone who’s making this happen and everyone who is contributing their artwork.

0
Reply
UWSHebrew
UWSHebrew
4 years ago

This is something out of the documentary “Roger & Me”. I find this very sad, but I understand the motivation behind it.

0
Reply
Paul
Paul
4 years ago

Like when Koch put stencils of window shades and potted plants on the boarded up windows of hundreds of abandoned buildings in the Bronx?

I’m tempted to say no thonx.

But arguably Koch’s move actually helped a little, and the sad fact is that this is no different.

0
Reply
UWSHebrew
UWSHebrew
4 years ago
Reply to  Paul

I haven’t heard “The Bronx? No thonx” in many years, as my Bronx-raised father has been gone since 2011. Thanks Paul!

0
Reply
Francine Perlman
Francine Perlman
4 years ago

My reflection on this:  almost every call to artists recently has asked for art with a narrative related to current events.  Joyous art is also healing, with or without a narrative.  Many artists are excluded, or don’t bother applying, because their work  doesn’t speak to the news.  I hope that this call, by including “healing” as a description, will welcome artists whose work fits time-honored notions of healing: joy, motion, emotion, meditation, reflection, scenes of home life or travel.

0
Reply
anmol osm
anmol osm
4 years ago

Great deal, really excited. 😀

0
Reply
Chris
Chris
4 years ago

Agree Francine — you might get submissions which only seem to advance some prepackaged themes. the exhibit should be enjoyable to everyone — from those who like to wonder at some amazing technique to those who want a story too.

0
Reply
Ellen Gilman
Ellen Gilman
4 years ago

Hi, I’m a west side artist interested in exhibiting my collages. Please send me a phone # where I can reach the organizers or send me
the exact e-mail address.
Thank you.
Ellen Gilman

0
Reply
Dana Reimer
Dana Reimer
4 years ago
Reply to  Ellen Gilman

Ellen: At the very end of the article there are links to both the group’s website and to Art on the Avenue. Just click on one.

0
Reply
RH
RH
4 years ago

Brilliant! Thank you Barbara Anderson and team! This is a perfect real life example of making lemonade out of lemons!

0
Reply
Cjberk
Cjberk
4 years ago

Good idea but why all the stipulations? Cant you just show wonderful art? Whose values…? Please just stop preaching …a gorgeous sky is just that. A falcon on my window is just that. Remember Sunflowers? Just that.

0
Reply
Lynn Padwe
Lynn Padwe
4 years ago

How do we submit work and when?

0
Reply
Julie Garfield
Julie Garfield
4 years ago

I think this is a great idea and I’d like to participate.

0
Reply
Stephen Galiczynski
Stephen Galiczynski
4 years ago

Great idea!

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

Man Has Women Moviegoers at Popular UWS Theater on Edge With Strange Pattern of Behavior
ART

UWS AMC Lincoln Center Theater Floods: Reopens After Short Closure

July 15, 2025 | 4:17 PM
Free Shakespeare in the Park Returning to Redone Delacorte Theater This Summer: Details
ART

Free Shakespeare in the Park Returning to Redone Delacorte Theater This Summer: Details

July 15, 2025 | 3:15 PM
Previous Post

Monday Bulletin: Poll Workers Needed, School Ventilation Problems, Ashes Come Home; ‘World’s Loneliest Elephant‘

Next Post

Column: The Street-Sweeper Cometh, or An Ode to Alternate Side Parking

this week's events image
Next Post
Column: The Street-Sweeper Cometh, or An Ode to Alternate Side Parking

Column: The Street-Sweeper Cometh, or An Ode to Alternate Side Parking

Police Retrieve Body of Man Found Floating in Swan Lake in Central Park

Police Retrieve Body of Man Found Floating in Swan Lake in Central Park

Pupper West Side: Fiona Loves Biscuits, Bicycling, and Sir Patrick Stewart

Pupper West Side: Fiona Loves Biscuits, Bicycling, and Sir Patrick Stewart

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2025 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • ABOUT
    • OUR STORY
    • CONTRIBUTORS
    • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2025 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.