DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN + DUMBO ART FUND
2021-2023
The Downtown Brooklyn + Dumbo Art Fund was created to fund public art, performance, and accessibility projects that serve to enhance public space, increase access to cultural programming, and connect the neighborhoods of Downtown Brooklyn. Part of New York State’s approach to create vibrant neighborhoods and boost local economies, Downtown Revitalization Initiative investments are a crucial part of the State’s strategy to revitalize communities. DBP and Dumbo partnered with Borough President Eric L. Adams on the winning 2018 proposal, which awarded $10 million to a range of projects including the Downtown Brooklyn + Dumbo Art Fund.
DUMBO PROJECTS INCLUDED:
“Sky’s the Limit in the County of Kings,” by Sherwin Banfield – a 9-foot steel and bronze sonic sculpture of Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, installed in Clumber Corner.
“Mobile Drag Performance Unit,” by FagSigns, a series of pop-up curbside drag shows presented in various locations throughout Dumbo.
“Anchorage, Babel in Reverse,” by Joseph Morris + Owen Trueblood, a site-specific sound installation features the voices of hundreds of speakers of endangered languages spoken throughout the city of New York, installed in the Dumbo Archway.
“A Skate Play,” by Eyes Up Here Productions, which brings storytelling and skateboarding together in an unprecedented theatrical experience that socially engages youth in public skateparks worldwide, and was presented in Goloconda Skate Park.
“Murals for the Movement,” presented by Street Theory Gallery – with murals by Cey Adams, Marka27 and Sophia Dawson.
“Shine Shrine Intention Walk,” by Brooklyn Brujeria, created a walkable route of activated public altars to celebrate the strength, beauty, and diversity of Brooklyn.
DUMBO PUBLIC ART NOSTALGIA: REMEMBER THESE?
LIGHT YEAR
Curated by Leo Kuelbs Collection, Glowing Bulbs and John Ensor Parker.
Projected onto the Manhattan Bridge Anchorage
On the first Thursday of every month, May 7, 2015 through August 3, 2023
LIGHT YEAR was a video art projection series presented by DUMBO Improvement District, and NYC DOT Art, along with Leo Kuelbs Collection, Glowing Bulbs and John Ensor Parker.
Originally created for the Manhattan Bridge Anchorage in DUMBO, Brooklyn, in celebration of the United Nations’ declaration of 2015 as the Year of Light and Light Art, LIGHT YEAR has become an international project supporting and presenting hundreds and hundreds of artists and curators from all over the world. The series ended with its 100th show, on August 3, 2023 – an incredible, nine year of supporting creators and community.
Find the whole project here and stream all 100 shows here.
CONSTRUCTION FENCES
By Morning Breath
Anchorage Place and Adams Street
2021-2024
We commissioned Dumbo design duo Morning Breath to create a fun and lovely design reminding us all to show some #smallbiz support in the throws of epic construction. Our retro ads have lots of Dumbo flair – and echo some Dumbo history, too!
AT HOME HEROES
A community-sourced photography exhibit in Dumbo, Brooklyn
Projected onto the Manhattan Bridge Anchorage
May 8 – June 20, 2021
Parenting and caregiving through the COVID-19 Pandemic meant a lot of changes in households across New York City. Moms, dads and caregivers of all sorts became teachers, kids became coworkers, and a new level of creativity and patience was been brought to endless hours of family time. For too many, the toll of it all was immense.
To honor the extraordinary efforts of those raising human beings through a pandemic, the Dumbo Improvement District, in partnership with Photoville, put New Yorkers’ Pandemic Parenting moments up in lights.
At Home Heroes presented 150+ photographs featuring New Yorkers in caregiving-action from 40 neighborhoods across all five boroughs!
WISHES ON WASHINGTON
Dumbo Improvement District with Juniper Jones
An augmented reality app that existed in 2019 & 2020
Wishes on Washington Street was an augmented reality app created by Juniper Jones.
Through this app, users could hang a virtual ornament on the Manhattan Bridge, customized with photos, audio and text, and explore the ornaments hung by others.
Well-wishers from all over the world are immortalizing their thoughts on the Manhattan Bridge, with wishes from Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Argentina, Benin, Canada, Chile, Cuba, France, Georgia, Greece, Ireland, Mexico, the Philippines, Spain, Uruguay, the UK and the USA!
Juniper Jones is a Dumbo-based creative agency, production studio, and technology lab, that specializes in visual storytelling and technology driven experiences, while shortening the distance between an idea and its execution.
DUMBO FITNESS LOOP
Designed by Hush
Bridge Parks 1, 2 and 3 (now Susan Smith McKinney Steward Park)
2017
Designed by then DUMBO-based company Hush, the Dumbo Fitness Loop used paint and instructions to inspire the community to get active and to reimagine the potential of these public spaces. The project was funded with generous support from NYC Department of Small Business Services and the Double R Foundation, and created in partnership with NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and AIGA/NY).
Four years after we installed the Fitness Loop, the City finally broke ground on a much needed upgrade to Bridge Parks 1, 2 and 3. In September 2022, Susan Smith McKinney Steward Park opened to the public!
DUMBO BEACH
Dumbo Improvement District with Joana Pertz and Mark Jupiter
John Street Entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park
2013
In 2013, the DUMBO Improvement District transformed a few government-controlled parking spaces at the end of Jay Street, the fenced-up edge of the East River, into a pop up beach, with umbrellas, seating and marine-friendly plantings.
The installation gave the whole neighborhood a fresh perspective on this particular piece of waterfront property adjacent to a Con Edison power plant and all but forgotten. Two years later, Brooklyn Bridge Park repurposed the site of DUMBO Beach, creating a new entrance into the Park’s newly created John Street section. DUMBO Beach un-paved the way for a truly magical access point to the Brooklyn waterfront.
Highlighted as part of the MOMA’s Tactical Urbanism catalogue and hailed by New York Magazine as “Lowbrow + Brilliant”, DUMBO Beach was created with the vision of local landscape architect Joanna Pertz, with handmade benches from Mark Jupiter using wood salvaged from an Alloy Development building conversion.
THE MANY MURALS OF DUMBO
PST
By David Ellis
Pearl Street Triangle
2012
In 2012, we transformed the Pearl Street Triangle with PST, the first large scale asphalt mural to be painted in this plaza, in partnership with NYCDOT Art.
DUMBO WALLS
2012 – PRESENT
DUMBO Walls begun in 2012, with work by CAM, DALeast, Eltono, Shepard Fairey, Faith47, MOMO, Stefan Sagmeister, and Yuko Shimizu. The murals highlight the various entry points to the neighborhood, celebrating the various types of artists drawn to DUMBO – studio artists, street artists, graphic designers, and beyond.
The project was presented by the BID and Two Trees Management Company in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation Urban Art Program (NYCDOT), Jonathan LeVine Gallery, and the Wooster Collective.
Today, this project is ongoing, with additional murals by CAM (2018), Apollo Torres (2019) and Cey Adams, Marka27 + Sophia Dawson (2021).
THE FRONT STREET MURAL
2008 – Present
The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) partnered with the DUMBO Improvement District in late fall 2007 to commission a mural for a corrugated metal fence alongside a DOT storage yard beneath the Manhattan Bridge on Front Street between Pearl and Adams Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The DUMBO BID approached DOT with a simple idea to beautify this heavily traveled pedestrian thoroughfare with the temporary addition of a work of art. A call for proposals was announced in fall 2007, and artist Tattfoo Tan was selected for the commission. The artist worked with local students to create a bright, geometric mural which was installed in February 2008, called “Nature Matching Systems.”
This site has gone on to host many murals:
- Nature Matching Systems, by Tattfoo Tan (2008)
- Intersection, by Heidy Garay, Mikell Fine Isles and Sam Vernon (2011)
- Trust Your Vision, by GILF! (2014)
- Moment of Gratitude, by Emily Caisip (2019)
- Standing in the Gap, by Sophia Dawson (2021) with Murals for the Movement and Street Theory Gallery
Pictured above: Sophia Dawson’s mural, currently on view
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
For the years leading up to Dumbo’s storied street reconstruction project, we collaborated with Dumbo-based Photoville on photo fences to wrap the Anchorage of the Manhattan Bridge. Additional support was provided by NYCDOT Art and Two Trees Management. Projects included:
SUPERHEROES (2012).
Curated by Sam Sam Barzilay and featuring work by Nicolas Silberfaden (Argentina-LA), Maleonn (China), Walter Iraheta(El Salvador), Dulce Pinzon (Mexico-NYC), Susanne Middelberg (Netherlands) and Gregg Segal (USA). “Superheroes” is visually about the comic book variety of superheroes, but the ultimate message is not meant to be humorous or childish. Each of the photographers selected has approached the subject of superheroes as an analogy for a deeper exploration of a social issue, whether it is about the unsung heroes all around us, the innate desire of humanity to believe in powers greater than ourselves, gender roles, or our dreams and aspirations as we transition from childhood to adulthood.
PERSONAL MYTHOLOGIES (2014-2015)
Curated by Sam Sam Barzilay and featuring work by Ivan Forde (New York, NY), Judy Haberl (Boston, MA), Klaus Enrique (New York, NY), Mara Trachtenberg (Kingston, RI), Mariya Kozhanova (Kaliningrad, RU), Tereza Vlcková (Czech Republic), and Viktor Koen (New York, NY). “Personal Mythologies” took visitors on a voyage through childhood dreams and fears, unbridled imagination, and the artists’ ability to see the world, not as it is, but as it could—and perhaps should—be.
FORGED WORLDS (2016)
Featuring work by Lori Nix, Bill Finger, Julia Fullerton-Batten, Nadine Boughton, Justin Bettman, Barbara Ciurej & Lindsay Lochman, and Jie Ling He. “Forged Worlds” featured seven talented visual artists whose photographic practices revolve around the physical construction of fictional landscapes.
DUMBO TEST KITCHEN
To highlight the robust local startup scene and at the same time, provide great amenities for the neighborhood, the DUMBO Improvement District created DUMBO Test Kitchen, a micro grant program that gives startups seed funding to test their innovations for the good of the community. Dumbo Test Kitchen was made possible with support from the NYC Department of Small Business Services. Projects included: