frescos in the heights

When thinking about what kind of monuments are needed for the city of New York, I first thought about what is the city of New York? What gets seen or left out when it comes to talking about New York City?

A lot of times when New York City gets discussed, represented within popular culture, to the world, or within academia it is often (re)presented through a lens of beauty. We often see beautiful skylines, aesthetically pleasing buildings, the lights of Time Square, and the filled streets of downtown Manhattan. In reality, these representations of New York City are one-sided because the important parts of New York city, the parts that are real, raw, and integral parts of the city are left out or they aren’t even considered.

When talking about Manhattan, places like Washington Heights, East Harlem, and Inwood tend to be left out of the conversation. The reality is that these parts of Manhattan are also a significant part of Manhattan and they are also a big part of New York City. Not only because they lie within the same borough, but because a lot of the people that live in these areas make up a lot of the culture within New York and they contribute to the city. When I thought about creating a monument for New York City, East Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood were my main focus. I decided on Washington Heights for my monument proposal because I’ve been in and out of the heights since a very young age. I also have a lot of family friends that live there and I used to live there myself.

Washington Heights is an area and community that I am very close and familiar with. When thinking about a monument I mainly focused on what this area would need and what piece of art would contribute to the community. I wanted something that would fix an issue while simultaneously sending out a strong message. Something that represents the community and that gives hope to the public of the Heights to keep hustling and striving for a better future.

For my monument proposal I chose to integrate Frescos onto the ceiling of the 168th one train station in the Heights. The 168th street station is almost 100 years old. Last year, the MTA began construction on this station and it was supposed to be done this January, but part of it is still under construction . The Heights’ 168th street subway station is just one of many uptown stations that gets neglected and pushed to the side by the MTA. This is frequently done to uptown stations because they are communities that are predominantly made up by people of color and since it is not a popular tourist location, there is not a lot of importance put towards these stations and they are not frequently maintained.

My monument proposal focuses on an alternative construction project that not only fixes the 168th station, but it would also add art that represents the community. Overall, the one train station on 168th is a really big station because the 1/A/& C line through it . As mentioned before, this station has been running for almost 100 years, so like all NYC subway stations– there is no AC. Therefore, when summer time comes not only are people running through this station under the heat, but they are also doing this with several other individuals (not to mention the fact that people also have to take an elevator into and out of the station that is usually filled with 15 plus people. It is like you’re in a sauna!). The station itself is super dusty and dirty. It lacks proper maintenance. From personal experience, due to the lack of maintenance the air that is consumed while inside the station does not feel sanitary nor does it feel good to breathe in. The station itself is super dusty and dirty. It lacks proper maintenance. From personal experience, due to the lack of maintenance the air that is consumed while inside the station does not feel sanitary nor does it feel good to breathe in.

For my proposal, first, I thought about fixing up the station by cleaning it and by adding proper ventilation throughout the station and A.C. units within the elevators. When it comes to fixing up the station I thought about keeping it minimal. I would keep the same tiles and colors that the original 168th station already has. Similar to how the 163rd station was reconstructed, I would also similarly redo the floors and continue maintenance of the station more often. Although the 168th Street station is not deemed a ‘popular’ station, it is heavily used by the community.

When it comes to artwork, I heavily considered the diversity of the ancient world and the different forms that public art has taken throughout history. I focused on the ceiling of the station as the main area where the artwork would be incorporated. The artwork that I chose to put on the ceiling is Frescos, but with a modern twist. Fresco is a method of painting where color pigments are mixed with water and then applied directly onto a fresh lime-plaster surface. Frescos were done as early as 2,000 BCE during the bronze age civilization of Crete. Early Christian Art in Rome featured fresco murals and this style of painting was popular with artists throughout the ancient Mediterranean and in Turkey. Until this day, frescos still exist and a lot of times the modern-day frescos continue to resemble the historical ones.

A lot of the time within Frescos, there's not a lot of diversity or representation of people of color. Because of this, I thought about integrating frescos onto the ceiling of the 168th station but with more of a modern take. Since the Washington Heights community consists of a dense black and brown population, I decided to depict day to day people from the community along with public figures and people from New York City that are now successful. This includes New York City activists, community leaders, and known individuals that are doing things for the community. In particular, the Frescos would include people like Washington Heights native Lin Manuel Miranda Bronx native Cardi B, Dascha Polanco, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Overall I want to integrate people that represent black and brown communities. Artists, activists, musicians, politicians, and every day black and brown folks would be incorporated into the Frescos.

This proposal would allow creative action to not only fix up the station but to also add representational art to a community that is underrepresented. This proposal allows space for imagining new forms of (re)presentation and symbolism within public spaces. The purpose of the Frescoes would be to honor the New Yorkers that made it out of New York, but that continue to contribute to New York communities through activism, political advocacy, communal representation, and beyond. Art within public spaces shapes environments and visibility so by fixing up the station and adding Frescos that incorporate people of color, visibility and representation will be given to the community. The Frescos will also endorse people that are not usually seen within public art because it will memorialize the success and beauty that lies within communities of color.

Student's take on modern frescos.

Incorporating the community in the decision-making process of the station's renovations by considering their needs and opinions on how the station can get transformed for a better commute is also something that I would do. When it comes to imagining the public's engagement with my proposal as a whole, they would engage with this station in a physical way by inhabiting the station, but also through emotional engagement. Individuals would be able to make what they are viewing more meaningful and apply it to their lives and experiences. Overall, the Frescos added to the ceiling of this station will operate as statements of power and presence. The power and presence of that the black and brown communities have within Washington Heights, but also within New York City and beyond will become visible.