“Damsgård” mural, New York

“Damsgård” Barrier Beautification mural
FDR Service Road, between the 25th and 27th street on east Manhattan, New York.
Painting happens on April 20th 2013 – on display for one year. 150m in length.

A picture scroll: The 18th century, Norwegian Damsgård mansion duck pond stretches as a wild stream – from fjords to tropical landscapes – along Manhattan´s east river.

The mural is commissioned as part of the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) Barrier Beautification Project. The project extends from a series of works that explore the Asian picture scroll, which initiated during travels on the Norwegian west coast. The particular motif site-source is the 18th century Damsgård mansion duck pond in Bergen, re-imagined in open wilderness. On April 20th, it will be painted onto concrete road barriers on the FDR Service Road, stretching between the 25th and 27th street on east Manhattan. The barriers will function as a “scroll-viewing template”, revealing a story as one passes along. The mural will be painted with volunteers from the New York Cares.

Barrier Beautification Project
Over the past three years, the NYCDOT´s Urban Art Program has collaborated with the Mayor´s Community Affairs Unit and the New York Cares to commission 20 artists to create designs for concrete barriers that typically separate bicycle lanes from vehicular traffic. With support from hundreds of volunteers, selected artists paint their designs onto designated barrier sites over the course of a single day.

Relevant project pages: Upstream, Damsgård, Scroll (Studio), KARST, Davis Museum Permanent Collection

Project supported by Office for Contemporary Art Norway.

Special Thanks to: Alex Villar and Jake Thompson.