This public art campaign produced by Times Square Arts, For Freedoms, and Poster House, features PSAs and messages of love, gratitude, and solidarity with New York City’s health care and essential workers.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted the economic and physical health of black and latinx communities in New York for a wide variety of reasons, including but not limited to the fact that minorities are more likely to be part of the essential workforce than other racial and ethnic groups. In addition to our thanks, these essential workers deserve hazard pay and proper protective gear, and our respect for their sacrifices.
The messages being shared on the digital PSA Network include designs by Nekisha Durrett, Christine Sun Kim, and Christine Wong Yap.
Art has the power to restore, renew, and heal our spirits, and we’re thrilled to be a part of this citywide effort to plaster New York City with art of gratitude.
Times Square Arts, the public art program of the Times Square Alliance, collaborates with contemporary artists and cultural institutions to experiment and engage with one of the world’s most iconic urban places. Times Square has always been a place of risk, innovation and creativity, and the Arts Program ensures these qualities remain central to the district’s unique identity.
Poster House is a new design museum that draws out hidden histories of poster art as never before, maps their continued role in today’s media landscape, and explores what posters can reveal about a specific time and place through a combination of design, art, advertising, and public messaging.
For Freedoms is a platform for creative civic engagement, discourse, and direct action. Through non-partisan nationwide programming, they use art as a vehicle for participation to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values.
Learn more about the citywide partnership in this Time Out Article about the campaign.