Making Connections: PAA Sponsored Public Art Project

A $10 million award received by the City of Peekskill as part of New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative-DRI which promises to transform the city. In response to this opportunity, the Peekskill Arts Alliance-(PAA) and Business Improvement District-BID are co-sponsoring a large public art project, known as Making Connections. Making Connections is one of three projects that also include Enlighten Peekskill, featuring five illuminated sculptures, and Five Elements Arches, a mural to be created by Christine Knowlton and Candace Winter.

Making Connections includes 13 proposed locations that would create art corridors, using murals, and installations to connect the Peekskill Waterfront to the downtown and would serve to engage residents and visitors in a unique cultural and historic experience, increase foot traffic and tourism, and improve the attractiveness of the downtown. Making Connections will strengthen Peekskill’s identity as an “Arts Community” by providing outdoor visible signs of artworks by local and nationally known professional artists

The Public Artworks Will:

– Be strategically placed to highlight gateways and local geography
– Create art corridors that serve as wayfinding landmarks, or a navigational map
– Result in a cohesive and thematically unique display of public art
– Remain sensitive to the architectural integrity of historic areas while celebrating and enhancing our city’s identity
– Include artwork that will be site-specific, designed to best suit its location
– Create a rich tapestry of visual art that brings our diverse community and our visitors together in celebration of Peekskill
– Create artwork in community based settings including houses of worship and involve the diverse community in the conceptualization and creation of the art
– Interface with a comprehensive program to enhance the streetscape through tree plantings and redesign. The planned redesign of a downtown park will be the site of a major set of art installations.
– Stimulate business activity through art tourism in downtown Peekskill

The sites at which installations are planned include the following:
1. BeanRunner Café (Private)
2. Peekskill Coffee House (Private)
3. Police Station (Municipal)
4. Peekskill Brewery (Private)
5. The Fern Tree (Private)
6. The Central Café (Private)
7. Between Dain’s and Lincoln Depot Museum (Municipal)
8. Methodist Church (Community)
9. Church of the Assumption (Community)
10. Sidewalk Quotations (Municipal)
11. Retaining Wall (Municipal)
12. Kearney Lofts on Main Street (Private)
13. Pugsley Park (Municipal)

Sites 1-7 will engage artists via an RFP process.
Sites 8-13 will recruit artists through several community- based approaches.