Word Above the Street: A Public Art Project So Very NYC

Ruth McCambridge

February 24, 2012

New York City Public Art Water Tank Project

February 23, 2012; Source: The Art Newspaper

Many at NPQ are big fans of public art—especially when it authentically reflects the ineffable character of the setting, so we love this collective endeavor. In the spring and summer of 2013, the nonprofit Word Above the Street is sponsoring the Water Tank Project, transforming 300 water tanks into works of art that help raise awareness about water consumption and the environment. More examples of what may be expected from the project are contained here.

While all artists are invited to participate, the project has also attracted some high profile names like Jay-Z and Thom Yorke. The project is being funded by the Ford Foundation, the Agnes Gund AG Foundation, the Dorothea Leonhardt Foundation and private donors.

This author loves the water tanks even unadorned, so we look forward to what this project can produce. –Ruth McCambridge

Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is the founder and Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.