This has seemingly been a long time coming as foundation work started here late last summer.
Real Estate Equities Corp. plans on 53,000 square feet of office space and some 7,700 square feet for retail here at 1 St. Mark's Place.
I am building a place for creative people to collaborate with a skilled and diverse family of expert tailors, pattern makers and artisans from around the world. A place to have fun. To create your own designs with freedom. To discover yourself.We will use only leftover, quality vintage material and deadstock. You will be able to repair or upcycle pieces from your closet you wish to revive, perfecting fit, breathing new life into what could have been thrown away, and creating quality heirloom garments with personal meaning.We hope to create a community of creativity and inspiration, regardless of socio-economic background. We will spotlight the people who play a part in each creation. We will bring together a diverse team, including apprenticeships for refugees and other talented, underappreciated groups, with positions of dignity based on skill. And as we work with global artisans and creators, we hope to help share the richness of their cultural heritage and support the development of their own businesses.It's all new, and I'm more of an artist than a businesswoman. I hope to see you there, and to be one of the many creating with you within our new creative collective.
During his residency, Len started the Office of In Visibility, an art project that bears witness to the unseen labor of sanitation and its extensive role in New Yorkers' lives. He has been using this as a platform to research and re-contextualize the department's archival material from film and video to printmaking and photography.For this exhibition, Len focuses on his work revitalizing an old sanitation screen printing shop in Woodside, Queens, that housed hand-printed street signs, trucks, and posters dating from the 1960s.
Reusing the old equipment and leftover designs, Len has created a series of mono prints on paper, aluminum, and wood that remix old DSNY slogans and symbols with his own marbling techniques. The results are bold, messy, and psychedelic updates to the originals with messages that remain relevant and speak to on-going sanitation issues such as illegal dumping and littering.
"Many of Sippy Café's teas and specialty drinks are based on Asian flavors, like a black sesame latte and an ube latte. Japanese curry sandwiches and a cooked tuna sandwich inspired by a spicy tuna roll also keep the concept."