A group of residents of 245 West 107th Street, a fifteen story prewar co-op between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, have launched a new initiative to fill the windows of their currently vacant retail space – formerly home Bank Street Bookstore before it closed for good last year – with paintings, photographs, and other works that celebrate the neighborhood.
Inspired by Art on the Ave NYC, which turned vacant commercial spaces along Columbus Avenue into gallery destinations, the organizers of “Art on the Corner” are doing the same – on their corner.
Almost one hundred local artists responded to the call for entries, submitting more than 250 works. In a range of styles and media, they offered markedly varied interpretations of recurring motifs: the vitality of our street life, the diversity of our residents, the natural beauty of our parks and river, and the visual interest of our streetscape and vernacular architecture.
“We hope visitors to ART ON THE CORNER will recognize their neighbors and their own experience in the images on display, and perhaps see a familiar subject in a new way,” said Nancy Cohen, a member of the team.
The exhibition will run through September 6. The artworks will be featured along with artists statements, pricing, and contact information, at artonthecorner.net.
Great idea!
Let the art reflect the stores that occupied it.
For about 50 years after prohibition it was a wine and liquor store,
Then a florist, and then a bookstore.