Apacheta
WOOD, REBAR
Apacheta is an Andean cairn used by the Incas to mark a milestone on a path or to communicate with the Apus, gods of the mountains. This apacheta with exposed rebar represents Harlem’s journey and struggles. The exposed rebar represents potential growth. In several areas of Latin America or Africa, taxes are lower for unfinished buildings. By keeping rebar exposed, the building is technically "incomplete" and pays less taxes. This sculpture takes a critical look into the community it stands looking for room for growth; highlighting relevant issues such as affordable housing, economic disparity, lack of youth programs, quality healthcare, and crime.
ARTIST
Niceli Portugal
Niceli is a Bushwick based artist and educator from Arequipa, Peru. She currently approaches immigration and sustainability, a result of growing around the Andean Cosmovision, a view driven by nurture and interconnectedness between humans and nature. Niceli is Education Coordinator at Material for the Arts. She has created educational programs for Guggenheim Museum, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Art & Storytelling, Queens Museum and American Folk Art Museum. Her work has been exhibited at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Human Impacts Institute and Bronx Art Space. Niceli is Director of Escuelita en Casa, connecting educators while providing free tutoring and art classes to families in USA and Latin America. Niceli collaborates with Escuela Santuario, bringing art to newly arrived families to New York City, amplifying voices of migrant childhoods.
Fallow Frames Biennial 2024
July 13 — 14, 2024
Ridgewood, Queens NY
2pm — 7pm
24 Empty Tree Beds - 25 Participating Artists
Ridgewood’s sidewalks have over 800 empty tree beds - or roughly one for every 90 residents.
The Fallow Frames Biennial is an upcoming public art festival that will be held on July 13th and 14th, where local artists are invited to use 24 abandoned tree beds to stage site-specific installations and performances.
Visitors are invited to wander the neighborhood as active participants in a larger narrative of renewal and artistic expression - and to spark conversations about urban ecology and these small neglected patches of the city’s landscape.
Festival Map