Giada Crispiels
Giada Crispiels is an Italo-Belgian artist who lives in between Brooklyn NY and Sirmione, Italy. Her proposal for "Underpass91 Project" is a mural painting that involves an annual celebration of the beginning of the spring.
“Urban Shadows of Nature” aims to recreate a little Eden, where a forest takes over the urban structures and spaces in our cities and the landscape changes back into Nature. Tree's shadows are taking place over the gray walls of the underpass. These shadows are telling us about how Nature survives and at the same time brings us back to a common ground, which is the community built around Nature.
The participants will be asked to add to the mural painting (made with acrylic paint) a series of drawings representing leaves and flowers with white/colored chalks. This will emphasize the idea of the cycle of Nature and continuity. Ideally this could be an annual recurrence that will celebrate the beginning of the spring each year.
Cat Balco
Artist Cat Balco has been creating large patterned murals in the New Haven area since 2010. Many of these murals have been integrated into community oriented projects, including Tag & Repeat x 2 (Artspace, New Haven, 2010) and The Ellipses Project (Real Art Ways, Hartford, 2014). Her proposal for a colorful patterned band that will connect the Fair Haven and East Rock neighborhoods will include opportunities for community input on the mural's design as well as participation in its execution.
Bread + Roses
Bread+Roses proposal utilizes line, shape and design to explore the concepts of kites and their ascension from one neighborhood to the other.
Phil Lique
Phil Lique is an artist and educator who lives and works in New Haven. His proposal
transforms the I- 91 overpass connecting Fair Haven to East Rock into a landmark for the neighborhood to celebrate as well as a monument that adds character to the entire city.
"Bright Pass" connect the two section of town with a transiting color gradient. A solid coat of orange paint covers the walls and ceiling of the underside and interior of the bridge. Orange fades into bright yellow from one opening of the underpass to the other, suggesting that the two neighborhoods offer different flavors, but are intrinsically linked together.
The project would enlist the help of volunteers, the City of New Haven and the D.O.T. and culminate with an inauguration upon its completion.
"Bright Pass " aims to elevate an everyday structure into a landmark that every member of the community can take pride in and identify with.