Artists Space

Sidewalk Archives
Selections from Artists Space Expanded Art Ideas

April 5 – April 22, 2023

Artists Space is pleased to present Sidewalk Archives in our lower atrium gallery. This display showcases a selection of student work produced through Expanded Art Ideas, Artists Space’s programming for young people, which began in September 2001 and is now in its 22nd year of continuous activity. The sounds, videos, and images in this presentation are the experiential residue of actions and practices made by middle and high school artists and their Teaching Artist mentors over the last five years.

A cropped image of a group of students smiling for the camera in Tompkins Square Park. One holds a recording device, which has been overlaid with an opaque orange image of a lampshade. Green digital circles emanate out from it, as if to simulate a doppler-effected sound.
P.S. 140 students recording sounds at Tompkins Square Park, 2019 [A cropped image of a group of students smiling for the camera in Tompkins Square Park. One holds a recording device, which has been overlaid with an opaque orange image of a lampshade. Green digital circles emanate out from it, as if to simulate a doppler-effected sound.]

Grounded in the social and collaborative nature of creative inquiry within the greater New York City community of artists, EAI recognizes young people as central activators in responding to the concerns and issues of our time. Through sound recording, digital and analog photography, spoken word, experiments with light through cyanotype, found sculpture, and painting, these young artists have investigated themselves and the spaces they inhabit. Sidewalk Archives poses initiating questions about the complexities of public space and offers a series of observations and responses. Through a practice of receptive open-ended listening, these projects reveal perception in all its forms and highlight the creative shift toward a more responsive and empathetically-centered awareness.

Expanded Art Ideas, Artists Space's arts in education program, encourages both mainstream and special education students in New York City’s public schools to develop a personal artistic voice and to utilize their individual creative capacities by providing them with the skills to communicate, document, and publicly exhibit their innovations and talents. EAI's six core programs: ARTstudio, BRIDGE Photography, Art and Literacy: Poetry, Threads of History and Listening to the LES—augment middle and high school classroom curricula in the visual and language arts. Alongside our core programs, we produce events, publications and exhibitions of student work, and guide students through applications for Scholastic Awards and entry into specialized arts high schools.

Expanded Art Ideas is supported by The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; NYU Community Fund; The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; The New York City Department of Education; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and to the Friends of Artists Space Expanded Art Ideas.

    A window sill with cups, cans and cloth is visible and a crane can be seen outside of the window with the text:
    Keeph Little, Artists Space construction site no.1, 2020, digital photograph Keeph Little, Artists Space construction site no.1, 2020, digital photograph [A window sill with cups, cans and cloth is visible and a crane can be seen outside of the window with the text: "New Holland" written on it. Circular green graffitti is visible on the facade of the building behind the crane.]