If you walk anywhere in the city between now and March, you may spot Westchester-based artist Cherie Corso’s interactive public art project — and don’t be surprised when she invites you to step on it.
For her project, “Pulse of NY,” Corso invites people to walk across a five-by-five-foot painted canvas. If they’re willing to stop, she traces their footprint onto the canvas — and some choose to leave their mark in more personal ways, adding their initials, a doodle or a shoutout to their favorite sports team.
Corso is creating a canvas for each of the five boroughs, with Manhattan and the Bronx already underway. During a stop at the Arthur Avenue Retail Market, Corso told the Bronx Times that she makes a point to roll out the canvases at all hours of the day and night, in different neighborhoods and environments, from subway stations to college campuses (most recently Fordham University) to markets, shops and events.
“That’s what New York is, getting the energy of everyone and everything,” she said.
For Corso, the project captures snapshots of the multitudes who make up New York City — and provides an antidote to the isolation and loneliness that are common even in a massive, crowded city. Rather than working in her studio as usual, this project has allowed Corso to interact with locals, tourists and all kinds of people, which she said “feeds the soul.”
“I think everybody is connected, and we all have something to say,” she said.
Corso started the Bronx portion of “Pulse of NY” on her birthday, Oct. 17. After having dinner at a restaurant in Little Italy, she spontaneously rolled out the canvas on the sidewalk and invited people to walk across it.
The canvases — rolled up in a long umbrella bag — go with her just about everywhere these days, she said. “When you’re in a project, you gotta commit to it.”
Corso is helped in her effort by student members of the Fordham Business Development Collaboratory, which pairs skilled students with local small businesses. Shreya Anand, a junior, recently joined a team working with Corso on the marketing side of things, including shooting videos and photos, researching, scouting locations and possibly designing and selling merch.
Anand said working with Corso has been a great opportunity to “get out of the Fordham bubble” and learn about a nontraditional business. “It’s cool to see how Cherie is positioning herself in the market.”
For Anand, a Los Angeles native now going to college in the Bronx, Pulse of NY reflects her own curiosity and interest in her new environment. “This is why I came to New York, to learn about the city,” she said.
Corso plans to continue taking her canvases around to every borough over the next few months, likely wrapping up in March or early April. She plans to host a party to unveil the finished project, with the ultimate goal of hanging all five canvases at the Brooklyn Museum.
In the meantime, Corso is enjoying being the facilitator and letting New Yorkers be the artists. One person working in a studio could not truly capture the collective energy of the city, she said. “How can I capture it on the canvas unless I go to the streets with the people?”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
