The Future of Public Space and Art: Trends, Crafts, Technology

Join us for the fourth program in a four-part series on The Future of Public Space and Art. The series challenges us to discover better design strategies for the public realm that welcome all people. How do we re-envision our public spaces and the public art that inhabits them in ways that are more inclusive and enriching to collective and personal experience for social benefit? In this program on new directions, we'll explore the following questions:

• What are the current trends and data on public space and public art? 
• What new directions and stories are being brought to the public realm?
• What roles do craft and technology play in exploring innovative solutions? 

The series expands on the theme Belonging and Beyond, established earlier this year by 2024 AIANY President Gregory Switzer, AIA, NOMA. Belonging and Beyond centers on crucial aspects of human well-being that improve physical and social-emotional health and resilience for individuals and communities. This forum will explore noteworthy solutions that grow out of a robust exchange of interdisciplinary ideas, pointing to the future of public space and public art and their role in social equity.

Speakers:
Janet Echelman, Artist, Studio Echelman; 2023-2024 Mellon Distinguished Visiting Artist, MIT 
Betsy Jacobson, Project Director, UAP Company 
Erica Behrens, Director, Franz Mayer
Rebecca Pristoop, Curator and Senior Program Manager at ArtBridge

Series creator/moderator:  
Ann Marie Baranowski FAIA LEED AP, Founding Principal, AMBA

More Events in This Series:
May 6, 2024: The Future of Public Space and Art: History and Memory
September 19, 2024: The Future of Public Space and Art: New Perspectives
October 2, 2024: The Future of Public Space and Art: Social Agency
November 9, 2024: The Future of Public Space and Art: Tour of Harriet Tubman Square
November 15, 2024: The Future of Public Space and Art: Tour of UAP Fabrication Workshop

About the Speakers:
Artist Janet Echelman defies categorization. She creates billowing sculpture engineered to the scale of buildings, choreographed by wind and light, that shifts from being an object you look at, to a living environment you can get lost in. Her work crosses disciplinary boundaries, from Fine Art, Architecture, and Urban Design, to Material Science, Computer Science, and Structural and Aeronautical Engineering. Using unlikely materials from fishnet to atomized water particles, Echelman combines ancient craft with original computational design software to create artworks that have become focal points for urban life on five continents. Recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, Harvard Loeb Fellowship, Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellowship, and Fulbright Lectureship, Echelman was named an Architectural Digest Innovator for "changing the very essence of urban spaces." Her TED talk "Taking Imagination Seriously" has been translated into 35 languages with more than two million views. Oprah ranked Echelman’s work #1 on her List of 50 Things That Make You Say Wow! Echelman recently received the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award in Visual Arts, honoring “the greatest innovators in America today.”

Betsy Jacobson is the Director of Project Management at UAP. She leads a team of Project Managers focused on Consultancy and Design Assist services for site specific commissions and large-scale works. For over 15 years, Jacobson has worked directly in the field of urban design to deliver artworks that engage the public and natural landscape. In her role as Senior Project Manager at UAP, she delivered a range of projects including works for Maya Line at PennMedicine and Stan Douglas at Moynihan Station; large-scale landscapes with Sarah Sze at Storm King Arts Center and temporary installation with Anthony Gormley at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. She has also overseen the fabrication of editioned sculptures by Claes Oldenburg, Shazia Sikander and Kehinde Wiley for gallery shows and private collections. Informed by her multidisciplinary training, Jacobson has also worked with clients to provide procedural and strategic advice about the complexities of working with the public sector, integrated needs for long-term maintenance into concept design, and led discussions about the delicate balance of placing artworks within the natural environment. Jacobson came to UAP with professional experience in the field of urban design, working for the NYC Department of Transportation’s Urban Design, Art and Wayfinding unit, as well as internationally recognized consulting firms.

Since 2004 Erica Behrens has directed our US office in New York City and is our full time presence for the studio handling projects and business for the USA and Canada. Previously, Behrens held an eleven-year position managing high-profile public art projects and special programs for the MTA Arts & Design Program. She studied art history at Mount Holyoke College with additional master’s studies in Art Management at NYU. She has decades experience working with contemporary artists for galleries and museums internationally (including the Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Behrens’ unique expertise adds exciting dimension to all aspects of our studio’s work. Erica devotes time and energy to individual artists, architects/designers, administrators, and consultants with each critical stage of a project and beyond from the proposal, through fabrication and installation. With her extensive curatorial background, Ms. Behrens fully provides expert art consulting services along with ongoing technical assistance to all our artists and clients.

Rebecca Pristoop is a New York-based curator, performance artist, and collaborator committed to working with art through the lens of social justice and the touch of somatic connection. She is Curator and Senior Program Manager at ArtBridge where she facilitates socially engaged art making between artists and public housing residents, and curates site-specific public art at cultural institutions, non-profits, and construction sites around New York City.

Pristoop spearheaded the presentation of ArtBridge's “Present Power/Future Hopes” exhibition which contextualized the work of 59 artists at 16 different NYCHA developments across New York City. She is also the editor of ArtBridge's "City Artist Corps: Bridging the Divide" public art catalog which presents the scope of the aforementioned program through artist bios, presentation of artworks, and descriptions of community engagement initiatives. Pristoop has contributed to and curated exhibitions at numerous museums, non-profit spaces, and universities and is a founding member of Collective_View — an all-female collective of curators and artists creating projects and conversations around practice, equity, and labor. She is the recipient of a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and a research award from the Hadassah Brandeis Institute. Pristoop received an MA in art history from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and a BA in art history and dance from Skidmore College.

Ann Marie Baranowski is the Founding Principal of her eponymous NYC-based architecture firm, Ann Marie Baranowski Architects (AMBA). Her practice is founded on the belief that culture as an investment embedded in the built environment is as essential as the physical infrastructure of our buildings and cities. Offering specialized services in Planning, Public Space + Art, and Architecture, Baranowski focuses on the intersection of public space and public art. Working in the public realm, she has partnered on significant buildings that set a national example for enriching urban life. As Consultant the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Oahu, Hawaii, AMBA established the preliminary public art and design guidelines for the renewal of the main terminal. For the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Baranowski coordinated important public art installations for the Fulton Center and the South Ferry Terminal. As the Museum Architect for the Brooklyn Museum of Art, she directed the planning and implementation of the Museum’s $32M Eastern Parkway Entrance to renew the Museum’s identity.