BOOK REVIEW

ELLEN HARVEY: NEW YORK BEAUTIFICATION PROJECT

By Donna Maria Chandler

NEW YORK, 12 DECEMBER 2007—Ellen Harvey is an artist that has exhibited widely in the United States and internationally. The New York Beautification Project documents Ms. Harvey’s adventures from 1999 to 2001 illegally painting 40 small oil landscapes onto existing graffiti sites throughout New York City. Her idea for this project began after being asked by a group of curators and artist to do a piece for a one day art event in Highbridge Park which is located in Northern Manhattan.

Ms. Harvey’s oval five by seven inch oil landscapes are appealing but when viewed in the context of the graffiti artwork they are almost lost. The accompanying page of written commentary by Ms. Harvey, identifying the location and detailing her adventures painting the landscapes including encounters with the police and the local community is thought provoking and raises many questions. In reading the text, one questions:

Why the city allowed the deterioration in these communities?
Would the artist paint a small landscape on a Keith Haring graffiti piece of work?
What would have happened if Ms. Harvey had gotten permission from local authorities and involved local young people in designing and painting works of art in their own community?

Six years after the completion of her project, it seems surreal that many of these neighborhoods are now experiencing gentrification which has lead to the displacement of community residents and businesses. If Ms. Harvey wanted to do another project, I am sure that she would get neighborhood support if she proposed to take a paint brush to eliminate or reduce the size of some of the structures that developers are building which are not consistent with nearby residential blocks.

Ellen Harvey: New York Beautification Project
By Ellen Harvey
Hardcover: 87 pages
Gregory R. Miller & Company (July 2005)
ISBN-10: 0974364819
ISBN-13: 978-0974364810
$25.00

Donna Maria Chandler is an international educator. Her work has taken her to Bangladesh, India, South Africa, Egypt and El Salvador. Formerly with the Sesame Workshop, she specializes in children's books and media literacy. She last wrote on board books for very young children.

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BOOK REVIEW