The Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA), a six-block area on the Lower East Side that includes the Essex Market, has both united and polarized the neighborhood. Artists Alliance Inc’s SPURArt program series will provide a forum for artists and community members to become a part of the ongoing conversation by focusing on the particular insights and experimental processes that artists bring to imagining new urban spaces.
Read more about some of our recent projects:
2016
DelanceyLudlowRivingtonNorfolk
Denise Treizman
Curated by Kelly Schroer
May 6 – June 5, 2016
Lettuce, Artichokes, Red Beets, Mangoes, Broccoli, Honey and Nutmeg: The Essex Street Market as Collaborator
Featuring projects by Laia Solé, Antonia Pérez, Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga, Mary Ting, Beatrice Glow, and Harley Spiller
Curated by Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful
February 26 – March 27, 2016
2015
Shifting Impressions
Featuring City Souvenirs, a project by Liene Bosquê and Nicole Seisler
Curated by Lynnette Miranda
March 28 – April 26, 2015
2014
The Real Estate Show, What Next: 2014
An extension of The Real Estate Show of 1979/1980, this exhibition will serve as a living project space, presenting new work that continues to question the impending re-development of the Seward Park Urban Redevelopment Area (SPURA) sites.
Participating artists: John Ahearn, Liza Bear, Peter Fend, Coleen Fitzgibbon,
Robert Goldman (Bobby G), Julie Harrison, Becky Howland, Lisa Kahane,
Gregory Lehmann, Ann Messner and Laurie Arbeiter, Alan Moore, and Tom Otterness
Exhibition Dates: April 19 – May 18, 2014
Location: Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space | 120 Essex Street (inside Essex Street Market)
2013
PUBLIC NOTICE
Within less than five years decisions have been made for SPURA, a territory contested for almost fifty. Longtime LES resident Dave Subren and collaborators take a moment for reflexive pause, in order to propose another kind of urgency.
Curated by Michelle Hyun
Exhibition Dates: June 22 – July 28, 2013
Location: Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space | 120 Essex Street (inside Essex Street Market)
Ground Floor at IDEAS CITY
This participatory project focuses on potential uses for the ground floor of SPURA, an urban renewal area located on the Lower East Side.
During the New Museum’s IDEAS CITY
Event Date: Saturday, May 4, 2013 from 11a-6p
Location: 131 Delancey Street (tours depart from StreetFest)
2012
Elastic Ground
Students from the Urban Design “City Studio” studio/seminar course present models for alternatives to standard commercial ideas for the ground floor of the urban development area dubbed SPURA.
Presented in partnership with The School of Design Strategies at Parsons The New School for Design
Exhibition Dates: December 18-26, 2012
Location: Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space | 120 Essex Street (inside Essex Street Market)