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Who knew construction fences could turn into beautiful works of public art?
The latest installment of the creative Art at Amtrak program features a large-scale mural now on display along the fence surrounding Block 675 in Chelsea, wrapping around the site of the upcoming Hudson Tunnel Project, a new rail tunnel that will connect New York and New Jersey.
“Re/Connections,” by artist Marisa Morán Jahn, specifically spans 274 feet along 30th Street, 235 feet along 29th Street and 201 feet along 12th Avenue, all while facing—and basically blending into—the Hudson River.
According to an official press release, the artist blew colored dye on rice paper to create the mural. She then scanned and digitally manipulated the paper to add unique motifs and other layers of color to the project.
"This technique echoes traditional paper cuttings inspired by her Chinese and Ecuadorian heritage," reads the official press release. "The resulting imagery was printed on mesh vinyl and installed along the 10-foot-high fence. For Jahn, both the holes within the work and the mesh surface serve as portals connecting times and places."
Even more specifically, the mural seeks to comment on the site’s “former history as a key trading route and source of sustenance for animals and humans” and its future transportation role when it links two separate states.
Since first launching in June 2022, the Art at Amtrak program has added a number of eye-catching drawings, murals, paintings and monuments to the city's landscape, many now on display all over Penn Station.
Standouts at one of the busiest train stations in New York include Derrick Adams' calming, oversized installations; "Get Carried Away, You Have the Right" by David Rios Ferreira; and Shoshanna Weinberger's "Traveling Along Horizons," among many others.
Given this week's unseasonably warm weather and the rainless weekend ahead (hopefully), we suggest you take some time to peruse through some of the city's other great outdoor art displays. Here is a list of some of our favorites at the moment.