Bridge Rockaway, the Think! designed, newly opened affordable housing development in Brownsville, Brooklyn is the unlikely site of a permanent art exhibit that opened on 4 November.

Showcasing the work of Brooklyn artist Harvey Wilson, the exhibition features approximately 100 artworks in acrylic and other media throughout the public spaces of the building, with the focus being the main lobby that is used by all residents. The collection has been curated by Jack Esterson, longtime friend of the artist and principal at Think!

Harvey Wilson moved to Brooklyn to attend Pratt Institute in the late 1960s, since then he has become a local legend, known as the ‘Mayor of Clinton Hill’. His vivid paintings and drawings enliven hundreds of homes and institutions in New York City and beyond.

Bridge Rockaway is an award-winning development that co-locates 174 units of affordable and supportive housing with 39,000 sq ft of light manufacturing facilities on the ground floor. The residences include 87 units designated for formerly homeless seniors, veterans, and adults with serious mental illness. The light manufacturing units provide working space to multiple tenants, delivering new economic opportunities and high paying jobs to the neighborhood’s businesses and residents. The development has created a new model for New York City, where this mix of uses has never been achieved before.

Setting precedent appears to be a theme here, as the inclusion of original artwork in affordable housing developments is not something that is regularly accomplished. Wilson’s abstract, colorful and biomorphic work is bringing art into the spaces and lives of people who don’t generally have access to it, hopefully adding to the sense of pride they have in where they now live.

The idea for the exhibit was Jack’s. Having collected Wilson’s work for many years and taking on the management of his oeuvre after Wilson moved into a nursing home, Jack approached The Bridge, the organization that owns and manages Bridge Rockaway, about what he saw as an opportunity to further enhance the living environment for residents.

Art installation opens at Bridge Rockaway