The City of New Rochelle is offering artists a brush with history with the announcement today of a new public arts competition to reimagine and beautify its streetscape and continue building a vibrant arts community. New Rochelle is launching two art competitions, as part of the City’s historic Downtown redevelopment, to celebrate and embrace the City’s rich history, diversity and culture.
The first initiative seeks to beautify the Potter Avenue Bridge over the I-95 & Metro-North overpass with the installation of two murals highlighting everyday life in New Rochelle.
The second initiative, in partnership with the art-inspired development NewRo Studios that caters to a growing artistic constituency, focuses on artwork that will be painted onto the latest version of two “NRNY” sculptures and will be installed in the heart of Downtown once final designs are complete. The winning artists will be able to implement their creation in NewRo Studios’ Creative Lab, which is generously lending the work space for this part of the public art competition.
Artists from New Rochelle and across the greater New York region are encouraged to apply for either or both of the initiatives at https://www.newrochelleny.com/1122/Arts-Cultural-District. Submissions are open from April 1 to April 30, 2021 with winners being selected by the Municipal Arts Commission of the City of New Rochelle. Both public art installations are expected to be complete by late spring or summer.
“Public art is a vital and often inspiring part of New Rochelle's larger commitment to creative expression,” said New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson. “These new installations, that celebrate the fabric of our community through art, will delight countless current and future residents. I am particularly grateful for NewRo Studios generous participation and cultural leadership."
Selected winners will receive a stipend as both an award and to cover the necessary materials and supplies to complete their winning designs. Artwork submissions for the murals and sculptures can be abstract or illustrative but should be welcoming and engaging to residents and visitors and reflect the City’s goals for building a smart, vibrant and innovative community.
The City of New Rochelle continues to make public arts installations a focal point of its redevelopment. The City, which was a recent recipient of the Community Award at the 2020 Virtual Arts Awards by ArtsWestchester, continues to cultivate opportunities for artists in and around the Downtown Arts & Cultural District. Just last summer, the City of New Rochelle opened two cohort spaces for artists and entrepreneurs to use inside the historic New Rochelle Train Station and launched an artist-in-residence program. The City also recently launched an artist certification program, which helps connect artists to live and work housing opportunities and continues to develop new creative outlets to grow, nurture and attract a growing artistic constituency.
For more information on the City of New Rochelle, visit www.newrochelleny.com & www.ideallynewrochelle.com. More information on the competition requirements can be found here.