Community Board 2 meeting, introducing Silent Lights to the Community; photo by Shagun Singh

Updates
November is sure shaping up to be a busy month for Silent Lights! Late last month, we were invited to attend the local Community Board 2 meeting and officially present the project to the community that it serves. (Silent Lights sits at the intersection of three neighborhoods: Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, and Dumbo). The DOT’s Urban Art Manager Emily Colasacco was there to introduce us. The community responded positively to the installation; however, we were surprised by how little commentary there was.

People seemed pleased that someone had decided to beautify a place that was never considered for art before, but no one had any specific feedback on the piece. Back on the construction side, our fabricator Serett has finally completed the physical construction of the gates: we recently paid them a visit to document the last stage, painting.

Recent Wins
Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership (our new community partner in the area) introduced us to the residents of Ingersoll Houses, a large NYC housing complex that sits right next to the site of Silent Lights. We joined the complex’s monthly meeting at 177 Myrtle Avenue, and the reaction from attendees was much livelier than at the Community Board Meeting. Residents young and old were enthusiastic about the concept. They were genuinely interested on how the idea came about and our choice of materials. They were pleased about the amount of color that the installation will bring to the streets and were eager to visit the pathway on the construction date.

Insight/Provocation
As we get nearer to the installation date, we are both excited and apprehensive about how the public will react to the piece. We have been looking at our renderings and prototyping very closely for a long time, but we have yet to see the whole structure up and in place. So next month will be revealing for us as well. Of course we hope the community will be pleased with the result.