Art Under the Elevated 2023: Art in the Open Air

Check out our 2023 public work artist commissions at Beach 60th Street in Far Rockaway, New York.

introductory photo

RISE is excited to announce the artists commissioned for the 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 a catalyst to temporarily transform and animate this fragmented and demapped roadway into a vibrant and active public space, through a combination of temporary art installations and related public art workshops. 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
October 7: “Oneiromancy” 3-D modeling & 360 audio recording workshop with Buena Onda Collective artists Camila Morales and Dominika Ksel
September 30: Unveiling of Zaq Landsberg's sculpture “A” Train Serpent
October 14: Kevin Sudeith petroglyph printmaking workshop

These temporary art commissions will be featured at the Beach 60th Street/Rockaway Freeway site during the course of this year. Check our Events calendar for the public unveiling of these installations and workshops. See the 2023 selected artist proposals below.


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 RISE's Project Underway Initiative, we have 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.