Public Address by Alex Strada—the first in Storefront’s series of new public art commissions—opens in Lt. Petrosino Square on October 18 from 4–6 pm and will move across all five boroughs over the course of a year. This outdoor exhibition is a citywide public art work that centers the lived experience of those most impacted by housing insecurity, and builds upon three years of collaborative log-writing workshops hosted by Strada in shelters across the city. Handwritten reflections by shelter residents and frontline staff are translated onto upcycled aluminum street signs fabricated by the Department of Transportation’s Sign Shop. Transforming the bureaucratic tool of the logbook and the language of city infrastructure into public art, these signs invite public dialogues about housing insecurity, migration, caregiving, and resistance.

On October 25, we will also host a talk with Pulitzer-Prize-winning writer Jennifer Egan and Deputy Director for Advocacy at Coalition for the Homeless, Will Watts.

This project is co-commissioned with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) and is the result of Strada’s work the Public Artists in Residence (PAIR) and the NYC Department of Homeless Services.