The Art Effect invites the public to attend the official art unveiling of a new public sculpture created and designed by Poughkeepsie teens on a vacant lot overlooking the Fall Kill Creek on November 20, 2019. The event will start with the unveiling and ceremony at 4:00pm at 85 Pershing Avenue, and a reception will follow from 4:45-6:00pm at The Art Effect Pershing Studios at 45 Pershing Avenue, Poughkeepsie. This event is free and open to the public and members of the press.Over the past two years, local youth from The Art Effect’s arts-based youth workforce development program, MADLab (Media, Art, Design Lab) have implemented creative placemaking projects to revitalize a vacant area on Pershing Avenue. Teenagers from the City of Poughkeepsie organized public cleanups of the Fall Kill Creek and incorporated what they collected into a series of found-object sculptures. These sculptures, along with native shrubs and a large steel sculpture spelling “EARTH,” aim to beautify the location and prevent pollution in the Fall Kill Creek. Judah, a sophomore from Poughkeepsie High School, believes that this will impact the location in a positive way; “If you see people really caring for one thing, it kinda makes you want to care for it. You second guess throwing trash into it.”The public art was designed and built by a collaborative process from over 30 students and many community partners and organizations, including the City of Poughkeepsie, Scenic Hudson, Northside Collaborative, MASS Design, Dutchess County, Bank of America Charitable Foundation, New York State Pollution Prevention Institute, Hudson Estuary Trees for Tribs Program, 4th State Metals, Lowes, and West Hook Sand and Gravel. Zion, a teen MADLab participant, has been with the project since its inception: “I’m really excited to see how the final product comes out. We spent so much time on this. It’s for the people, and I can’t wait to see people interacting with this.”For more information, please call 845-471-7477 or email david@thearteffect.org.
