THE PLYWOOD PROTECTION PROJECT

Be Heard by Behin Ha Design Studio (Thomas Paine Park, Manhattan : May 15, 2021 - April 1, 2022)

In Honor of Black Lives Matter by KaNSiteCurators and Caroline Mardok (Poe Park, The Bronx : May 15, 2021 - April 1, 2022)

RockIt Black by Tanda Francis (Queensbridge Park, Queens : May 15, 2021 - April 1, 2022)

Miguelito by Michael Zelehoski (McCarren Park, Brooklyn: May 15, 2021 - November 1, 2021)

Open Stage by Tony DiBernardo (Alice Austen House, Staten Island : May 15, 2021 - July 1, 2021)

In 2020 we lived through an unprecedented global pandemic that shook the world to its core. Our universe’s new normal included restrictions such as sheltering in place and limiting social interactions. The communal slow-down that resulted shifted our focus away from all of life’s minutiae and helped give rise to a powerful Black Lives Matter movement centered on the continued killings of innocent Black lives. In the summer of 2020 we finally left our homes to fight for racial justice while retailers, restaurants and luxury brands boarded up their windows. As businesses protected their storefronts with plywood due to the pandemic and the protests, WORTHLESSSTUDIOS saw an opportunity to protect the plywood itself.

During these peak protest months across New York City, plywood prices skyrocketed to above $90 for one 4’ x 8’ AC plywood board and supply was rapidly depleted citywide. In response, WORTHLESSSTUDIOS launched the Plywood Protection Project, a mission-driven initiative to collect the wood and redistribute it to artists, extending and repurposing the life of this material. WORTHLESSSTUDIOS collected over 200 boards of plywood and initiated an open call for artists, with the intention of selecting five local makers to participate in a unifying public art project across all five boroughs of New York.

After combing through over 200 applications, five artists were selected by WORTHLESSSTUDIOS’ jury. Each has received studio space, tools, fabrication and installation assistance, along with a $2,000 artist stipend and a $500 material budget to create their new works. The sculptures were installed, one in each borough of New York City, this May and will remain on view until November 1, 2021.

The Plywood Protection Project is made possible in part with public funds from Creative Engagement, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and administered by LMCC.

WORTHLESSSTUDIOS is also extremely grateful to be partnering on this project with the Alice Austen House, Noguchi Museum, NYC Parks Department, Bronx River Arts Center, NYCxDESIGN and Makerspace NYC. The organization has also been working closely with Times Square Arts, Pioneer Works and Metropolis Magazine.

PRESS

THE ARCHITECT’S NEWSPAPER
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TIME OUT NEW YORK
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BROOKLYN PAPER
UNTAPPED CITIES
HYPERALLERGIC
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