11th Annual Black and White Spider Awards: I received a nominee in the category ‘People’ for my image ‘New York Walking #13380’. This competition received 7,556 entries from 71 countries.

I am happy to announce I have been selected as a finalist for Critical Mass 2015, an international competition organized by Photolucida. The 200 jurors will select the top 50 this month. Awards are a possibility, but the main benefit is exposure. Wish me luck!

Update: I wasn’t selected for the final 50, but it was an honor to have been a finalist.

Finalist (1 of 6), Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, Kansas City, MO. Art in Transit project, artwork on glass of bus shelters, 18′ x 21″ total per shelter. Graphic interlayer laminated safety glass. Proposal to shoot imagery from the neighborhoods along the transit route. January, 2010. Budget: $90,000.

Presentation Boards

From the Proposal

I am proposing the application of transparent photographic imagery to the walls of the bus shelters for the proposed sites. The imagery chosen would ideally come from the immediate environs of that station and help give an identity to that location. I visited Kansas City in December and shot generic pictures of the city as well as wandered the streets around the three designated sites along Troost Ave. The images presented could be the final artwork, or more visits to the city could be made and additional imagery created for final design selection.

My primary site of interest is the 31st Street station. What spoke to me most about this location is the existing piece of public art occupying the wall to the rear of the proposed site. It became clear to me that this mural has to be a beloved neighborhood treasure and that whatever artwork we now propose should honor this painting and treat it respectfully. So I began to photograph this mural and then the other Alexander Austin murals around the city. These murals have already begun to decay (hopefully there will be restoration efforts), and my pictures could in part act as a record of what these murals looked like should circumstances cause them to further crumble or even disappear. I would want to credit Mr. Austin on any plaque included at the site. In addition to the 31st Street mural, I photographed the Martin Luther King mural one block away on Linwood Boulevard and the other large one near 18th and Vine. I also learned about the Disney connection to the site and included images of his old studio around the corner.

Finalist (1 of 3), Sunset Park High School mural, Brooklyn, NY. Commissioned by NYC Department of Education Public Art in Public Schools Program and the NYC Percent for Art Program. Proposal to shoot imagery over a period of a year in the ethnically diverse neighborhood of Sunset Park. One large-scale porcelain enamel mural (4′ x 74′), a pair of murals composed of porcelain tiles (6′ x 12′), and bands of porcelain tiles. Fall 2007. Budget: $175,000.

Presentation Board

From the Proposal

I am proposing photographic-based murals for the first floor lobby and corridors of the new Sunset Park High School. I am presenting a primary proposal and an alternate one, the difference being in the materials used. These materials vary greatly in price and therefore in what can be done for the same budget.

The primary proposal includes three items. The dominant piece is one large mural to be done in porcelain enamel on steel. This would be a 4′ x 74′ mural (composed of ten 48″x74″ panels) to be mounted on the wall of the primary art site, the long 78′-2″ wall that faces 35th Street and is visible through the ground floor windows. Second are two side-by-side 6′ square pieces that would be mounted on the wall between the two auditorium entrances. These face the public entrance to the school and are composed of 6″ square tiles (each a grid 12 tiles by 12 tiles). Lastly this proposal uses the residual budget to run a 6″ high band across the neighboring walls, estimated to transverse 8 walls and be about 166 running feet of tile. This band is composed of the same porcelain tiles as the second mural. These tiles are produced by the same fabricator as the porcelain enamel and have the same durability.