Sunday, July 12th, 2020
An Artistic Approach for Revitalizing the Physical, Fiscal, and Social Fabric of the City of Newburgh
The successful revitalization of communities must incorporate a multifaceted approach that combines community and economic development programs, incentives, a wide range of housing options, and leverages private investment. There is no single pathway forward. Like many Legacy Cities, the City of Newburgh faces many challenging issues in terms of socio-economic and financial conditions.
Once a thriving community on the shores of the Hudson River, the city has had years of disinvestment. Over the last five years, there has been some incremental momentum in revitalizing the city. Much of this has been done through smaller projects, an enhanced art and culture scene, and an economic shift toward entrepreneurs, makers, artisans, and light manufacturers.
There has also been great strides toward the rehabilitation of historic residential and mixed-use properties for renters and homeowners. The Greater Newburgh Habitat for Humanity and RUPCO have done an amazing job of rehabilitating hundreds of homes and apartments throughout the city.
Although millions of dollars have been poured into the city, like many urban centers, the poverty rate remains high and crime is a concern in both reality and in perception. And it is likely that the decade long expansion of the national economy has come to an end, meaning local investment will be harder to find.
The city has been through dozens of design charrettes, visioning, and other community engagement efforts that has produced thoughtful plans, reports, and concepts. Many of these documents are rich with ideas from professional planners as well as locally grown concepts from neighborhood residents and businesses. These ideas range from simple placemaking activities such as the creation of a small pocket park in a vacant lot to massive redevelopment plans that include the adaptive reuse of historic buildings and new construction for housing, retail, and office space.
Some of the most visible reinvestment in the city has occurred along the Hudson River on the Newburgh Waterfront, which is filled with cafes and restaurants. While this investment brings tens of thousands of visitors to the city, there exists a barrier between this tourist attraction and the historic neighborhoods up the hill to the west of the waterfront.
There are authentic and somewhat edgy neighborhoods filled with life and opportunity that span from the foot of Broadway going westward toward the center of the city and along the lateral streets running north and south off Broadway including Liberty and Grand Street. It can be argued that much of the investment and redevelopment of historic structures is never experienced by people visiting the waterfront.
Dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. monument and the renaming of Water Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (2005).
In an effort to connect these two separate areas and showcase and promote the heart and soul of a city filled with extremely diverse neighborhoods with its arts and culture scene with shops, galleries, makers space, cafes, and restaurants that exemplifies entrepreneurship, we offer the following concept for your consideration.
The topography of the grassy sloped hill between Martin Luther King Jr. Drive (aka Water Street) and Colden Street along the foot of Broadway provides an incredible natural setting for the installation of large sculptures.
PROPOSAL: Create the “Faces of Diversity”, a series of five (5) massive, 12’ high sculptures (see below), to form a new gateway into the heart of Newburgh. The sculptures would be commissioned by the artist, James Tyler, who is located in Garner Arts Center, Garnerville, NY (Rockland County).
Each sculpture could represent a different ethnicity and race, which would be grouped together and oriented next to one another as a group.
These sculptures would be installed at the top of the open vista facing Mt. Beacon. Their sheer size and immense beauty would become a point of destination and spiritual place for reflection so badly needed in these times.
This artist’s installation would entice visitors to meander up the existing stairs from the old historic train station (Pizza Shop and Hudson Taco) to the foot of Broadway. From there a series of wayfinding signs would direct people further into the city to explore, experience, and celebrate the multi culturalism of the City.
To further the concept of celebrating artistry and diversity, additional installations of massive artistry would be placed on the greenspace of open vista stretching from the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument to Washington Street. This “linear park” could be split into a series of parcels. Sculptures would then be installed on every other parcel along this vista. This would allow for the greenspace to be shared by everyone while simultaneously keeping some land available for future economic development opportunities.
Each of these parcels would be large enough to accommodate massive sculpture – playing host to loaned sculpture from private collections and museums or becoming the home site for permanent installation of large-scale work commissioned from artists from around the world. One of the parcels could be dedicated to the winner of an arts competition managed by the Newburgh Arts Commission that is open only to residents of the city.
The goal of this blog is to offer a grand idea, using imagery through art, to illustrate that we are stronger together our diverse backgrounds, experiences, cultures, race and ethnicities. This concept may also lead to further revitalization of the City of Newburgh by connecting the waterfront to other parts of the city. It may very well be the project that causes tourists and residents from throughout the metropolitan area to say, “have you seen what Newburgh just did? Let’s go and visit!”
