The Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District is sprucing up Fifth Avenue, commissioning Brooklyn-based artist Martha Antonelli to transform 16 drab-looking cement planters at Park Place and Fourth and Ninth streets along New York City’s “coolest street” into vibrant works of art featuring abstract botanical designs that bring color, texture and movement to the streetscape.
The art project is part of the BID’s streetscape beautification mission. Executive Director Joanna Tallantire told Brooklyn Paper the colorful planters made Fifth Avenue feel even more welcoming and cared for.
“We want people to visit Fifth Avenue and enjoy it and stay and support local stores, and by adding some art to the planters, we thought that would be one way of getting people to come on down and see them, but also a way of thanking the community for supporting local as well,” Tallantire explained. “By having the planters and the art in different places, we hope people will explore and walk down, enjoy the whole corridor.”
Antonelli draws inspiration from nature, and much of her work focuses on colorful, joyful floral murals that grace the walls of businesses such as Volare Cafe, Pasta Louise, Park Slope Little Learners and Java Studios.
She told Brooklyn Paper that a visit to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden inspired the project, particularly the shadows of the plants and their organic shapes. She chose a vibrant color palette for the abstract floral designs of tulips and pansies that reflects Park Slope’s character, including the red brick of the neighborhood’s townhouses and green tones representing the trees.
“I also wanted [the planters] to be interesting and joyful, so I added the bright blue,” Antonelli explained. “I wanted something which is kind of calming [and] nature-inspired. I’m a big believer in bringing more nature into the city, and it has a positive impact. For me, it’s a very relaxing experience. So I hope that you can kind of see that in the end result as well.”
Antonelli used a Meta Quest virtual reality headset to project her designs onto the curved surfaces of the planters.
“It’s almost like having a projector on my face. So I’ve made this design beforehand, and I can even wrap it around the pot. It just means that I can get all the designs on quickly. I like to have a design that I’m working from, but I also like to leave some creativity in the process, and go with the flow,” Antonelli shared, noting that she hoped the spruced-up planters brought “a little bit of extra joy” to the community.
Passerby Ray Hands, an artist himself, complimented Antonelli’s floral designs.
“We need more original art in New York, especially more color in New York, because when you go out of town to other cities, it just becomes more blooming to me,” Hands told Brooklyn Paper. “I’m in Miami once a year, and the cars, the colors, the landscape, everything is blooming. I come back to New York, all the cars are blue and dark and gray. It’s kind of depressing.”
