Tag: on the street

On the Street: Herald Square Subway Station

today

I don’t know why this graffiti in the Herald Square subway station made me laugh. Maybe the chalk-on-black-wall medium reminded me of Keith Haring’s early subway drawings. I’m not even sure whether this gadget is meant to be a cash register or a cell phone or something else. Is it a warning against commercialism? Is it a statement about our 24-7 plugged-in mentality? Is it a private message left by one individual for another? Is it just some contemporary form of “carpe diem“? One thing is for certain: I can’t depend on it being there when I return tomorrow.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation.

On the Street: 5th Avenue at 41st Street

fifth ave mural

I was doing some research at the New York Public Library’s main reference branch yesterday, and when I left the library and crossed the street, I spotted this mural. It’s painted on a pair of doors off to the side of the Andaz Fifth Avenue, a hotel that I’d never really noticed before.

The painting is signed by artist Aimee Cavazzi. I looked her up when I got home and learned that she is “artist in residence” at the Andaz. She painted this work just a few weeks ago, and she says,

“I would take the train in the spring time and early summer as a young teenager and felt, just as the picture depicts, inspired, overwhelmed and in awe of the immensity and intensity of the city.”

I know what she means, and I’m glad I still feel the same way in New York sometimes: energized, happily astonished, percolating with ideas, drawing inspiration from my surroundings.

You can see some photos of Cavazzi (and her students!) at work on the mural here.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation.

On the Street: Fleur-de-Lys Studio, Providence, Rhode Island

providence studio

I was just looking through my photos from our recent trip to Rhode Island, and I came across this quick shot of a building in Providence’s College Hill neighborhood. It’s the historic Fleur-de-Lys Studios at 7 Thomas Street, a Tudor Revival building designed by architects Edmund Willson and Synney Burleigh in 1885. It’s still home to the Providence Art Club, and you can read more about it on the Brown University website.

I liked its relief panels, including this image of a lily, painted in bold red and yellow.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation.

On the Street: Lilly Pulitzer, Madison Avenue, NYC

lilly

The designer Lilly Pulitzer, who was famous for her brightly colored, whimsically patterned mini-dresses and other resort wear, died on April 7th. (You can read her obituary here.)

I walked by the Lilly Pulitzer boutique on Madison Avenue this afternoon; things seemed to be business as usual. I expected some sort of tribute display in the window, perhaps a photo of Mrs. Pulitzer herself with some vintage outfits arranged around it. But the current display, just a row of cheerful shift dresses against a splashy floral backdrop, could have represented any day in the designer’s business from the 1960s through today.

On the other hand, there’s something just right about that.

You can listen to a short National Public Radio story about Lilly Pulitzer and her designs here.

Image: photo by Tinsel Creation, with a little editing help from Picasa.