WORkshop ON THE STREET

Intervention / Public Art,  2017-ongoing
Shown at Socrates Sculpture Park, The Watermill Center, Leila Heller Gallery, Mana Contemporary, Kimmel Gallery, Repair the World, and commissioned by Times Square Arts to be shown in Times Square on Sept 7, 2017 and May Day, 2018.

Workshop on the Street in Times Square before Labor Day on Sept 7, 2017.

Workshop on the Street in Times Square before Labor Day on Sept 7, 2017.

Workshop on the Street is a participatory banner-making workshop created in collaboration with my sibling-led arts collective House of Trees, where the public is invited to create their own wearable protest gear with phrases made from colorful felt in the form of banners, sashes, capes, or badges. WOTS is empowerment through engaging in a creative act- we encourage visitors to respond honestly to their political and personal landscape through making with their hands. We use felt because it’s a ubiquitous material, found cheaply at any craft store in America. Workshop on the Street engages the community in social action through creating an inclusive, diverse, engaging environment- we always have a DJ present and have worked with JD Samson, Brujas, and Douze, among others.

Word on the Street is an ongoing public art initiative in collaboration with my sibling-led arts collective House of Trees consisting of original political and poetic banners created by female artists and writers in collaboration with female refugee fabricators based in Texas. Artists + writers include: Amy Khoshbin + Anne Carson, Carrie Mae Weems, Wangechi Mutu, Jenny Holzer, Laurie Anderson + A.M. Homes, Tania Bruguera, Naomi Shihab Nye + House of Trees. Originally created from felt as protest expressions during the Women’s March, the Word on the Street banners speak to the urgent, timeless concerns of the individual, community and the requirements of citizenry. Commissioned by Times Square Arts, the reproductions of the banners currently appear on street pole banners and Bigbelly trash receptacles in Times Square until September 2018, subverting advertising space with the language of resistance. Workshop on the Street is a participatory banner-making workshop where the public is invited to create their own wearable protest gear with phrases made from colorful felt in the form of banners, sashes, capes, or badges. Workshop on the Street engages the community in social action and encourages a physical artistic response alongside the Word on the Street banners, and has been performed in Times Square on Sept 7 and May 1, 2018, Watermill Center on March 25, 2018, Leila Heller Gallery on April 21, 2017, and NYU Kimmel Gallery on Jan 19, 2017.