SoHo

How does art become part of a city’s fabric? For a piece to be appreciated, does the original intention have to be clear? What happens when the context shifts but the piece remains the same? In 1985, SoHo would’ve been dark and run-down, home to artists’ lofts, workspaces, and vacant buildings lining streets that were not yet gentrified. An art piece on 110 Greene Street was even more of a spectacle when it was finished 34 years ago, illuminating the block at night, drawing admiration and attention during the day. You can still find it right now, but SoHo looks pretty different; you’ll need to brave crowds of shoppers and tourists, and remember to look down. Subway Map Floating On A NY Sidewalk by Francoise Schein is a spectacular arrangement of lights, stainless steel, and brass rods on the sidewalk….

What do we miss when we’re not looking for stories? How are little-known stories preserved by chance? Are we participating in history simply by existing in public space?  Gulielma Elmore Sands and Levi Weeks were both boarders at 208 Greenwich Street in 1799. On the night of December 22, they planned to elope. Gulielma bundled up in a shawl and a hat to brave the cold night and find her soon-to-be husband. They were going out to meet somewhere private, she told another boarder. This was the last time Gulielma was seen alive. The next week, neighborhood residents claimed they saw an article of women’s clothing floating in Manhattan Well. Gulielma was missing. Her body was found eleven years later on January 2, 1800, with strangulation marks on her neck, in a well in Lispenard’s Meadow. Today, Lispenard’s Meadow is…