Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
If you are in New York for #OOHNYC next week or indeed Advertising Week currently then you cannot fail to notice that Grand Central Terminal has been transformed into the largest New York City art installation in decades.
Running through to October 19, Dear New York, a first-of-its-kind immersive experience created by Humans of New York’s Brandon Stanton who told us “New York is humanity itself. Every type of person is here—every ethnicity, every culture, every religion, every viewpoint. And somehow, despite the honking, the yelling, the shoving, we find a way to make it work. In a world that seems to be on fire, New York provides a reason for hope. Dear New York is a living, breathing immersive art installation staged in the one place where the entire city comes together–-Grand Central. It is a love letter to the people of this city, and about the people of this city. Everyone who visits Dear New York will not only see the art, they will become a part of it.”
For the first time in living memory, Grand Central Terminal and its subway station have been completely cleared of advertising and replaced with art. More than 150 digital screens, normally reserved for commercial advertising and MTA public announcements, have been unified to showcase thousands of portraits and stories from Stanton’s Humans of New York archive, the largest, most diverse collection of New York City portraits ever created by a single artist.
“The MTA is excited to host Dear New York, showcasing New Yorkers as they are from every corner of the city, within the backdrop of one of the most iconic buildings in New York City, in the largest transit system in North America,” said MTA Director of Commercial Ventures Mary John. “This beautiful art installation transforms the terminal into a photographic display of New Yorkers telling their stories from all walks of life – serving as a powerful reminder of our shared humanity. This installation is especially notable as it is the first time an artist has unified digital displays in both the terminal and subway station below, and the MTA coordinated across many corners of our organization to make this happen. We look forward to continuing to delight customers with unique and thought-provoking projects that raise revenue for the MTA and inspire riders across the transit system.”
Serving as Creative Director of Experience for Dear New York, David Korins, an Emmy-winning, Tony-nominated designer best known for the groundbreaking designs of Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, and Immersive Van Gogh has shaped the entire visitor journey to merge storytelling and spectacle at an unprecedented scale.
In the Main Concourse, 50-foot projections surround passersby with intimate New York stories. The space comes alive with more than 100 hours of music in collaboration with The Juilliard School, featuring performances on a grand piano donated by Steinway & Sons. Showcasing artists representing Juilliard students, faculty, and alumni, these programs span Juilliard’s classical, jazz, historical performance, and collaborative piano programs.
The sweeping subway installation, arking the most extensive use of physical space in the subway’s history – was conceived in collaboration with Andrea Trabucco-Campos, Creative Director of Design for Dear New York, a celebrated Pentagram partner whose award-winning portfolio spans global brand identities and cultural landmarks. Pentagram, the world’s largest independent design studio, is contributing its work pro bono.
Vanderbilt Hall is also hosting a community art showcase featuring emerging New York City artists alongside works from more than 600 New York City Public School students, selected through an open call.
Dear New York is free and open to the public. For more information, click here.
Created in 2010 by Brandon Stanton, Humans of New York is a collection of 10,000 portraits and stories of ordinary New Yorkers from all five boroughs, called “one of the most important art projects of the decade” by The Washington Post. Stanton’s work for Humans of New York has been turned into four #1 New York Times bestselling books. It is also a social media account with 30 million followers across Instagram and Facebook—including 1.5 million people in New York City alone. Over the past 15 years the platform has been used to raise more than USD 10 million for various NYC causes and charities.
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