Downtown New Rochelle’s Arts at 5 Anderson Expands Saturday With Works From Roof to Basement

Downtown New Rochelle’s Arts at 5 Anderson Expands Saturday With Works From Roof to Basement

Visitors Will View Videos and Sculptures, Join A Walk to Collect Seeds and Take a Seat for Game Night

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (August 11, 2016) – The New Rochelle Downtown Business Improvement District and Residency Unlimited’s summer artist in residency and art exhibition program is in full swing. This Saturday, its downtown New Rochelle home at 5 Anderson Street, will teem with new artwork paintings and sculptures in galleries throughout the building, even on the roof.

“The BID has been working tirelessly to nurture downtown as a dynamic urban center where the arts play an increasingly important role,” said BID Executive Director Ralph DiBart. “These artworks and events will show visitors and residents what New Rochelle can be – indeed, what it is becoming – and will let everyone know that it’s all happening here.”

Mark and Robert Fonte, the developers of 5 Anderson Street, a newly renovated apartment building, are providing the BID with opportunities throughout the buidling to showcase the work of local, regional and international artists. 5 Anderson is also home to the work studios for the six regional and international artists who are participating in the RU work residency program.

Livia Alexander, project director for Residency Unlimited, an art organization that works with artists internationally, has organized gallery exhibits, art installations and video presentations with works by regional and international artist who participate in their many programs.

One gallery show opening Saturday “Beneath Our Feet and On The Surface of Things,” reflects and explores urban development and its effects, coming as New Rochelle enters a phase of historic burgeoning of its downtown. As part of the arts project, artists will lead several events including a game night and a walk to gather seeds of plants hardy enough to survive in a city’s core. Curated by Alexander, the exhibition features works of artists Ellie Irons, Graciela Cassel, Jaret Vadera, Silvia Giambrone, Gustavo Prado, Itziar Barrio, Youmna Chlala, and Larissa Sansour .

“Working in New Rochelle for the first time represents an exciting opportunity for the many artists participating in this initiative,” says project director Alexander. “Moving away from the traditional white cube experience, our emphasis has been on collaborating with artists seeking to engage audiences in unconventional spaces like 5 Anderson, out in public, and with communities. As we move forward, we are excited by the many opportunities that have emerged for exchange and collaboration.”

In addition, Tokyo based artist Kanako Hayashi will be presenting her video performance piece “Practice for Water Dance.” Iranian-born artist Shiva Jlayer will display charcoal and ink portraits are steeped in classical tradition. The exhibits will explore social, political and cultural life in a downtown landscape that is transforming.

Artist Jesse Sanchez, former President of the New Rochelle Artist Association whose studio is located downtown, has also curated a show representing the works of two dozen artists from the greater New Rochelle area. He stated that he “wanted to give the art community an outlet to express their feelings about their rapidly changing surroundings using their craft, ingenuity and creativity,” Sanchez said. “I believe one of New Rochelle’s greatest assets is its art community. We are worth protecting, nurturing and being listened to. We are valuable beyond whatever economic growth may happen as a result of our efforts.”

“New Rochelle is changing,” said co-curator David Krinick, juror for the exhibits and co-founder of the New Rochelle Arts Collective. “We’re working together with the BID and the developers of 5 Anderson Street to showcase the voices and perspectives of our local artists.”

Admission is free and open to the public. In addition to the exhibitions, the artists will present the following activities:

August 20, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Guided Seed Collecting Walk with Artists Ellie Irons and Anne Percoco. (Meet at 5 p.m. in front of 5 Anderson Street.)
Stocked with seeds gathered from the vacant lots, street verges, superfund sites and abandoned infrastructure of the greater New York City area, collect and share seeds at our very own New Rochelle outpost of The Next Epoch Seed Library. The seed bank provides a gene pool of tough, highly adaptable plants well suited to live in close quarters with humans and their attendant landscape transformations. Providing services like soil stabilization, moisture retention, heat-island reversal, toxic bioaccumulation and medicinal and nutritional attributes, these plants will be the ideal pioneer species, forming the base of new, novel ecosystems as we move through the bottleneck of the sixth mass extinction.

August 23 to 30 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment, Barter Week With Meredith Degyansky
Degyansky whose work explores alternate economies, is seeking people to teach her Spanish language or Mexican cooking, and in exchange she can offer goods and services including graphic design work, photography, editing, writing, English language lessons, Hungarian cooking lessons, fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, or a camera or computer to borrow. Contact her attheworkintern@gmail.com or 901-INTERN1 to set up a meeting.

August 27, 5-8pm, Game Night @5 Anderson Patio
Game Night is a series of events presenting artist-made games inspired by underlying themes from popular games such as the Ouija board and Mad Libs. Through playful exchanges created by artists, this series invites participants to interact with works of art, have a conversation, and explore how games illustrate the ways we communicate and reflect on the world around us and each other. The series is organized by Anna Harsanyi, independent curator, artist and educator and Sheetal Prajapati. This special event will include Yasi Ghanbari (Zoom to Unlock), Sheetal Prajapati (Closer) Alison Kuo’s Million Dollar Mystery.

From September 10 through October 1, the exhibition Ghosts will run Saturdays and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. Presented by Field Projects and curated by Beth Livensperger, the exhibition featuring the work of Fanny Alliè, Kara Lynn Cox, Hilary Doyle, Erik Gonzalez, Will Hutnick, Mollie McKinley, Jeanette May, and Ryann Slauson.

Ghosts takes on questions of transformation, dwelling, and the unknown. Using installation, painting, sculpture, video and performance, Ghosts will bring artists and visitors together in a celebration probing notions of occupation, inhabitance and impermanence of experience.

Two art works that debuted as part of Art at 5 Anderson remain on display in the courtyard of the building. They are a work from artist Gustavo Prado’s series, Measure of Dispersion, and artist Brandy Bajalia’s installation Horizon Summer. Prado’s work uses a collection of concave mirrors to fragment images. Bajalia’s installation features sprigs of mint suspended from hundreds of strands of string which will soon be part of a tea ceremony..

The artists will continue to present new works, culminating at ArtsFest 2016, September 23-25, a project of the New Rochelle Council on the Arts.

Attached: Works by Kanako Hayashi and Meredith Deghansky

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The New Rochelle Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) is a non­profit association of over 800 business and property owners whose prime goal is economic development, new business and new investment. As part of its mission, the BID is also devoted to assuring clean and safe streets, adequate parking and exciting downtown activities and events. By creating a vital downtown experience, the BID focuses on attracting shoppers, recruiting new businesses, and providing enhanced services—it is pledged to preserve the charm and appeal of this commercial center as the historic heart of the greater New Rochelle community.

Residency Unlimited (RU) is a non­profit organization supporting the creation, presentation and dissemination of contemporary art through unique residency programs and year-­round public programs. They forge strategic partnerships with collaborating institutions to offer customized residencies designed to meet the individual needs of participating artists and curators. Residents and communities benefit from their diverse network of partners, which allows for flexibility, customization and access to a wide range of services and resources including but not limited to studio/workspaces. RU is particularly committed to promoting multidisciplinary practices and building lasting connections between residents and the broader arts community.