Breaking into the World of Public Art

Saya Woolfalk, Daydreams of paper animals, ceramic tiles and smalti glass. Installation View at P.S.\I.S. 49Q NYC.
Commissioned by Public Art for Public Schools/NYC School Construction Authority, Percent for Art Program, 2017.

How can you break into the realm of public art? How does one go from producing traditional art objects or performances to presenting your work in the public realm? In this virtual panel discussion, participants will get a sense of how to get started, the technical skill sets required to execute these types of projects (insurance, fabrication, etc), as well as what goes on behind the scenes of public art panels. This event is designed for artists of all disciplines, as well as cultural producers looking to learn more about the world of public art.

Event Breakdown
What: Breaking into the World of Public Art
When: Thursday, March 17, 4:00 - 5:30 PM
Where: Virtual (Webinar)
Audience: Artists of all disciplines & cultural workers interested in public art.
Cost: Pay what you wish. 
Register: Register here
Questions: Email learning@nyfa.org

Additional Details
Registrants will recieve the Zoom link one day in advance of the workshop. This event will be recorded and available to registrants for one month following the workshop. 

Panelists
This panel discussion will feature managers of some of the leading public art programs as well as artists adept at fabricating public art projects:

• Kendal Henry, Assistant Commissioner of Public Art, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA)
• Marissa Lazar, Project Manager, Department of Transportation (DOT) Public Art Program
• Saya Woolfalk, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow and Public Artist

Moderator: Kelly Olshan, NYFA Learning Program Officer, Career Advice and Training

Panelist Bios

Kendal Henry is an artist and curator who lives in New York City who has specialized in the field of public art for over 30 years. He illustrates that public art can be used as a tool for social engagement, civic pride, and economic development through the projects and programs he’s initiated in the US and internationally. Henry is currently the Assistant Commissioner of Public Art at the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs and an adjunct professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development.

Henry is also a guest lecturer at various universities and educational institutions including Rhode Island School of Design Senior Studio and Pratt Institute’s Arts and Cultural Management Program. He served as the Director of Culture and Economic Development for the City of Newburgh, NY, where he created the region’s first Percent for Art Program. Prior to that post, he was Manager of Arts Programs at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts for Transit for 11 years. During this time, he oversaw the commissioning, fabrication, and installation of MTA’s permanent art projects; served as a member of the MTA’s in-house design team; and produced temporary exhibitions at Grand Central Terminal. Henry was also the Curator-at-Large at the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Art (MoCADA) in Brooklyn, NY, and was elected to serve two 3-year terms on the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Council.

Marissa Lazar is an arts administrator who lives in New York City and specializes in the field of public art. With her experience in the arts ranging from public art administration to fine art fair production, she has seen first-hand how art has the ability to transform public spaces and how people use them. Lazar is currently a Project Manager at NYC Department of Transportation’s Art Program, where she manages artwork presented on NYC DOT property, creating attractive corridors, activating public spaces, and increasing the public’s access to art across the City. Outside of DOT, Lazar has consulted for the Queens Council on the Art’s pilot public art program, ArtSite, a yearlong program which commissioned local artists to activate sites around Jamaica and Jackson Heights, Queens through murals, sculptures, and performances, and has also managed and consulted for privately commissioned artists’ projects. Lazar holds an MA degree in Visual Arts Administration from New York University and a BFA degree in both Studio Art and Anthropology from Brandeis University. In addition to her work as an arts administrator, Lazar maintains her own creative practice as a jewelry designer and fabricator, as well as through her painting practice.

Saya Woolfalk (Japan, 1979) is a New York based artist who uses science fiction and fantasy to re-imagine the world in multiple dimensions. With the multi year projects No Place, The Empathics, and ChimaTEK, Woolfalk has created the world of the Empathics, a fictional race of women who are able to alter their genetic make-up and fuse with plants. With each body of work, Woolfalk continues to build the narrative of these women's lives, and questions the utopian possibilities of cultural hybridity. 

She has exhibited at museums, galleries, and alternative spaces throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States including solo exhibitions at the Montclair Art Museum, Montclair, NJ; the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA; the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco; SCAD Museum, Savannah, GA; Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY; Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NE; the Mead Museum of Art, Amherst, MA; and group shows at the Studio Museum in Harlem; MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY; the Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; among many others.

Works by the artist are in the collections of major institutions including, among others, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Mead Art Museum, the Weatherspoon Art Museum, the Newark Museum, the Chrysler Museum of Art, and the Seattle Art Museum.

Woolfalk is the recipient of numerous honors, awards, and commissions. She has delivered numerous public lectures at museums and universities throughout the United States including a recent TED X Talk. She is represented by Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York and teaches in MFA program at Yale School of Art as well as in the BFA and MFA programs at Parsons: The New School for Design.