She Built NYC: City Announces Initiative To Create Public Artwork Honoring Women

Pamela Wong -

On Wednesday, NYC First Lady Chirlane McCray, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, and the Department of Cultural Affairs announced the launch of She Built NYC, an initiative to commission public artwork that honors New York City women and women’s history.

Brian Tolle’s Miss Brooklyn and Miss Manhattan at the intersection of Flatbush & Tillary Street (Photo by Nathan Haselby)

The project will start off with an open call to the public to nominate whom they’d like to see honored. During the open call, voters can go to women.nyc and submit nominations of women, groups of women, and events involving women that had a significant impact on New York City history.

“There are big gaps in our City’s public art, with few statues of women, trans and gender nonconforming people,” said First Lady McCray. “The message that lack of representation sends is that these people have no value and did not make contributions to our city. This first step we are taking will help us more accurately show the diversity in the people who helped make New York City so great.”

Guidelines include the following criteria:

  • Nominated individuals must have been deceased for at least 20 years
  • Nominated events must have taken place at least 20 years ago

Nominations will be accepted from the public until August 1, 2018.

In the Fall, based on the submissions received during the open call, an advisory panel will create a list of potential historical figures to be immortalized in a monument that will be displayed on City property.

The woman, group, or historic event selected for the honor, and the artist who will create the artwork, will be chosen by the Department of Cultural Affairs using the agency’s Percent for Art commissioning process. Overseen by the Department of Cultural Affairs since 1982, the City’s Percent for Art law requires that one percent of the budget for eligible City-funded construction projects go towards the creation of public art. The agency has committed up to $10 million over the next four years to this project.

The subject and site of the She Built NYC monument will be announced in January 2019.

Go to women.nyc to submit your nomination.