With retail and office vacancies on the decline and on the precipice of a development boom, downtown White Plains is brightening with Art in Public Places (formerly Art in Vacant Spaces). The White Plains BID is partnering with Professor Warren Lehrer’s senior level Community Design class at Purchase College, SUNY for the fifth year, along with poet and performer Judith Sloan. The goal of the project is to enliven the downtown with art, thereby creating a more pleasing and vibrant environment for those who live, work, and shop here. The poetry artworks featured in Art in Public Places are graphic and illustrative interpretations of text; this poetry is inspired by White Plains itself and is built on themes of positivity, resilience, and communal hope for the future. The poetry art exists on street-level, most recently on the construction site of the Mitchell, a mixed-use development in the works from LMC, a Lennar Company. The 2019 beautification effort enhances the pedestrian experience along a highly trafficked area of the central business district, at the corner of E Post Road and Mamaroneck Avenue.

White Plains Mayor Tom Roach said, "Art connects us with each other and with the world. It broadens our experiences and understanding. Contact with art is an important personal and societal experience. These installations will bring the thousands of people who come into the White Plains downtown each day into direct contact with art in places where you wouldn't necessarily expect to encounter it. We welcome this creative use of space in our downtown and the added vibrancy it brings to our city."

Press:
Graphic Designers Place Art in Vacant Spaces | Purchase College News, November 15, 2016
Students Create Art in Vacant Spaces | Purchase College News, December 11, 2017
Purchase College, White Plains BID bring art to empty storefronts | Westfair Communications, Ryan Deffenbaugh, December 13, 2017
White Plains hosting Art in Vacant Places | The Journal News, Richard Liebson, January 5, 2017

Download the free app for an audio tour of Art in Public Places.

December 2019 - Present
109 Mamaroneck Ave - 170 E. Post Raod

 More Than A Roadmap - Austin Wells

Quantum Leap - Isaiah Ship

Rise to the Occasion - Lucas McBath

November 2018 - present
61 S Broadway - 55 S Broadway

How Did I Get Here? - Brandon Gambone

i want - Samuel Sheen

the tree, the leaf, the wind, the sky - Audrey McGrath & Hasani Browne

resilience - David Martens

A Woman - Emily Bottner with Aric Knowles

a building - Damian Colavito

November 2016 - present
230 East Post Road - 55 South Broadway

Seat of the County - Sarah Yalaju
 

Cows? It Was Quieter Back Then - Julianne Waber
 

Full Circle - Melissa Murillo
 

The Seat, The Light, The Pulse, The Heart - Paige Nehlsen
 

Urbia - Emily Seto
 

I Remember, This Community - Danielle Foti
 

Drawing Board - Gunnar Artin
 

I Remember, I Am a Member - Ashley Yalaju

November 2015 - present
29 Court Street

A Place - Elise Assenza

Project Manager: Brittany B. Brandwein                 Asst. Project Managers: Alison Malecot and Danielle Foti  
Art handlers: Alex Theodoropolous and Laura Krapacher with support from Brian Bochow and Christina Coppola 

Special thanks to:
 

Anonymous, West-Ex Associates, and The White Plains Library's People & Stories: Oral History Project