NYC Park Artists Forced to “Run for their Livelihoods”
Brooklyn-based artist Peter Walsh has shot a short video that demonstrates the ridiculous nature of the new New York City law that has drastically reduced the number of artist spots in the city’s parks.
Brooklyn-based artist Peter Walsh has shot a short video that demonstrates the ridiculous nature of the new New York City law that has drastically reduced the number of artist spots in the city’s parks. As Walsh explains:
The new Park Rules force artists to literally run for their livelihoods. Every morning at 6am, artists must now race into each park to secure an authorized location. Artists who don’t get a spot either don’t work that day or they must relocate to a spot that dramatically reduces their access to the public. Hundreds of artists’ jobs are at stake.
Walsh is nice enough to list the names of those artists impacted by the regulation (himself included) and judging by the names, these are not the upper eschelon of the art world (yet), but struggling artists trying to make a living: Wei Chen, Qiao Fu, Guo Kun Sheug, Artashes Karslian, Ji Yin Jin, Li Qun, Lin Ruo, Dean Lu, Ren Jien-Guo, Peter Walsh, Xiang Yue Chuan, Dario Zapata, and Zhuang Xuemin.
Yet again the little person gets screwed. So, when the art world says it is more moral than the stock market and shouldn’t be regulated that rhetoric only seems to apply to fat cats in Chelsea galleries or the auction houses and not to the everyday artist on the street. We should rally behind these guys, we need MORE artists in our parks, NOT less.
The original plan proposed by the city back in April has been changed but the resulting regulation is still bad. According to the New York Times:
After listening to the complaints of aggrieved artists, the Bloomberg administration has backed down somewhat from a plan to slash the number of art vendors in city parks, but still intends to cut their ranks by more than half.
What exactly is the problem with artists in the parks? This new system seems entirely unfair. Artists now rush to literally fill the limited spots and if they don’t make it that day they don’t make money.
For up-to-date news about the situation, visit Peter Walsh’s information blog: centralparkportraitexchange.blogspot.com
Hat tip LM
