Art Under the Elevated 2023: Art in the Open Air
Public work artist commissions to activate the space under and adjacent to the elevated A train tracks at Beach 60th Street in Far Rockaway (Queens), New York
RISE is excited to announce the artists that will be part of our 2023 Art Underneath the Elevated initiative. Congratulations to Amelia Marzec, Buena Onda Collective, Kevin Sudeith, and Zaq Landsberg on being selected for this year’s art commissions!
This initiative uses art and creative placemaking as catalysts to temporarily transform and animate this fragmented and underutilized roadway into a vibrant and active public space. RISE hopes to inspire the community to reimagine the potential of Rockaway Freeway to reconnect the peninsula and serve as an adaptable civic space.
2023 Art in the Open Air Schedule:
September 23: Slavic paper-cutting workshop with Amelia Marzec
September 30: “Oneiromancy” 3-D modeling & 360 audio recording workshop with Buena Onda Collective Artists Camila Morales and Dominika Ksel
September 30: Unveiling of the Zaq Landsberg sculpture: “A” Train Serpent
October 14: Petroglyph print-making workshop with Kevin Sudeith
Project Background
Located below the elevated A-line subway tracks, the five-mile long Rockaway Freeway currently acts as a de facto community corridor for pedestrians and bicyclists. As part of our Project Underway Initiative, RISE has been working since 2012, in partnership with residents, local stakeholders, NYC DOT and HPD, to reenvision this much needed, yet underperforming and dangerous, underpass into a safe and inviting public space that has the potential to serve as an important cross-peninsula connection for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Art Under the Elevated artist commissions are made possible through funding from National Endowment for the Arts/ArtWorks and Radical Imagination for Racial Justice Initiative by Hester Street and Surdna Foundation.