We chose a place in new york to study through photography, illustration, and our own sense of imagination. We researched the location through visual, as well as historical, research. Next, we wrote about our historical place in a research paper, using information from historical photographs and journals found in databases. Then, we incorporated our research into our design assignment by creating a collage on Photoshop from contemporary and historical photographs, as well as our sketches from our locations. Lastly, we printed our collages on Strathmore drawing paper and added an element of hand drawn detail. Thus project tests our ability to analyze historical evidence and incorporate such research into our art. I chose to analyze Washington Square Park (WSP) because it is a connection that my mom and I share. She attended NYU in the 80s and I am currently enrolled at its neighbor, Parsons. WSP is a place that we have both found comfort, acceptance, youth, and vibrance. It meets my fascination with the outdoors and love for the elegance of the city. I have found that WSP is at the crossroads of intellect, glamour, social reform, nature, and uniqueness. Its rich history, concerning social reform, is inspiring to me and I thought that it would be a peaceful place to draw on a sunny day in October. When I arrived, pen and sketchbook in hand, ideas flooded every inch of my consciousness. I could see a collage with protesters on the top of the memorial arch and oversized gay pride flags subjugating the background of my initial sketches in the park. This conveys how WSP has become more of a social symbol of strength and peace, rather than a place of natural tranquility.
Washington Square Park is a ten-acre open space, dominated by the Washington Square Arch at the northern entrance to the park, with a tradition of celebrating nonconformity. The public park is located in Greenwich Village, a neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City.
The land was once a marsh fed by Minetta Brook located near an Indian village known as Sapokanikan. In 1797, after the Revolutionary War, the City’s Common Council acquired the property for use as a potter’s field, a public burial place where poor and indigent people, mostly victims of yellow fever, were buried (Moke). After twenty years of use, the area was filled in in 1870, and the first Department of Public Parks set about transforming the then shabby parade ground into an organized park. The Square’s renovation was entrusted to Ignaz Pilate, assisted by Montgomery Kellogg. Pilate drew inspiration from the layout of Central Park, replacing the rigid symmetry designed for military reviews with curving paths surrounded by plantings and small gathering places, in line with the picturesque landscaping movement (“Washington Square Park”). Currently, the park boasts a multitude of greenery, but due to its extensive paving has limited plantings. The presence of children’s play areas, commemorative statuary, gardens, a designated board game area, benches, picnic tables, paths, and two dog runs allow the park to operate not only as a public park, but also a campus lawn, a crossroads, a performance space, and a tourist attraction.
The two prominent features are the Washington Square Arch and a large fountain. Fifth Avenue arises from under the Washington Square Arch, first designed by Stanford White in 1889 out of wood and plaster to commemorate the centenary of George Washington’s inauguration, and travels North (Moke). The positive response evoked by the first draft of the structure, led to the architect being further commissioned by the city to design a permanent version in marble (Folpe).
Washington Square Park was redefined socially and culturally throughout the 20th century. In 1912, approximately 20,000 workers from labor unions marched to the park to commemorate the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which happened one block east of the park in 1911 and killed 146 workers, most of whom were young immigrant women. Many of the women in the march wore fitted tucked-front blouses like those manufactured by the Triangle Shirtwaist Company (“Washington Square Park”). This clothing style became the working woman’s uniform and a symbol of female independence, reflecting the alliance of labor and suffrage movements. Three years after rallying in the park for ameliorated working conditions, more than 25,000 people marched to the park demanding women’s suffrage (Folpe).
The park became a renowned haven for performers and protestors. In 1917, painter John Sloan, Dadaist Marcel Duchamp, and some of their friends broke into the staircase of the arch. At the top of the structure, they enjoyed a cookout, lit lanterns, fired pistols, and declared themselves the independent republic of New Bohemia (Moke). Some years later, the central area around the fountain began to flourish as a performance space. Folksingers such as Joan Baez and Bob Dylan gathered around the fountain to express themselves through music. In addition, on nearby lawns, Allen Ginsberg and Beat poets recited their works. Artists, writers, and radicals from all over the nation were attracted to the square and came there in pursuit of their artistic ambitions, also lending their support to causes such as labor, pacifism, LGBT and women’s rights (Folpe).
Washington Square Park has been a place for LGBT activists to organize, rally, and protest since the beginning of the movement; the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 and the first Gay Pride march that followed happened just blocks away. In 1973 the Gay Pride march began in Central Park and ended in Washington Square. The Gay Men’s Health Crisis was founded just one block away from the Park in an apartment at 2 Fifth Avenue. It was founded in Larry Kramer’s living room to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. In 1993, the first Dyke March, organized to assert lesbian rights and contributions, went from Bryant Park to Washington Park on the day before the Pride March. Today, there is an annual Dyke March, from Bryant Park to Washington Square Park, the Saturday before New York’s LGBT Pride March (“A History of Pride”).
Bibliography
Folpe, Emily Kies. “History.” Washington Square Park, http://washingtonsquareparkconservancy.org/history/ . Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.
“A History of Pride Around the Park.” Washington Square Park Conservancy, 8 June 2017, http://washingtonsquareparkconservancy.org/news/2017/06/08/a-history-of-pride-at-the-park/ . Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.
Moke, Bernadette. “Downtown Doodler: Hidden History of Washington Square Park in NYC.” Untapped Cities, 16 May 2012, http://untappedcities.com/2012/03/16/hidden-history-of-washington-square-park/ . Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.
“Washington Square Park.” Washington Square Park Highlights : NYC Parks, www.nycgovparks.org/parks/washington-square-park/history. Accessed 24 Oct. 2018.
1925 photograph of Washington Square Park Memorial Arch, created in commemoration of George Washington’s centennial inauguration.
The New York City Pride Parade celebrating all lifestyle choices. Flags at the parade. The parade route was lined with tens-of thousands of spectators supporting the event.
Sketchbook visual notes from Washington Square Park. Picture is of George Washington Memorial Arch in acrylic.
Sketchbook visual research of more scenic section of park. Image captures the presence of beauty in nature through vegetation, such as grass, trees, etc. The medium is lead pencil.
Researched historical image of 1980s college students relaxing, playing music, and sunbathing in Washington Square Park. This image is multiplied, color-inverted, and scattered within my abstraction. The work portrays the young, carefree, supportive nature of the park.
Sketchbook visual research of the park’s fencing ironwork and an adjacent safety cone. This sketch captures the beauty in the art-deco craftsmanship of the park, and today’s constant need to undergo gentrification, as if no work/craftsmanship/art ever reaches its potential.
