Paley on Park Avenue featured 13 original sculptures that graced the median of one of the nation’s best known avenues. They were installed June 14-15, 2013 on Park Avenue in New York City as part of The Fund for Park Avenue’s Temporary Public Art Collection. WXXI was given unprecedented access to Paley’s studios to document the project. Narrated by award winning journalist , artist Jay Schadler.
The WXXI production follows world-renowned sculptor, Albert Paley, as he creates 13 original sculptures that graced the median of one of the nation’s best known avenues for the past six months.
WXXI was granted unprecedented access to Paley and his studios to document the creation of these pieces for a one-hour documentary that shares Paley’s incredible journey. Paley on Park Avenue: New York Cityisnarrated by Emmy Award winning journalist, photographer, and artist Jay Schadler. In addition to the documentary premiering on WXXI-TV in December, it will be shared with PBS stations throughout the country early in 2014.
The exhibit, which Patterson Sims, a member of Sculpture Committee for the Fund for Park Avenue described as “one of the most ambitious projects that any sculptor in the last decade of the program has come up with,” took two years to complete. Paley on Park Avenue: New York City follows the project from conception to installation. It also shares personal stories about the sculptor, his work, and the Park Avenue project from Paley, his wife Frances, his staff, and community leaders.
“Albert Paley took on a challenge far greater than he’d ever experienced and the result is an incredible story that WXXI is proud to share with our community, as well as art lovers across the country,” WXXI President Norm Silverstein said.
In May 16, 2013 WXXI launched a six-part, web-only series that shared Paley’s process with the world online at WXXI.org/paleynyc. The 3-5 minute segments, which went live weekly, shared the progression of the project with the final webisode documenting the installation of the sculptures along Park Avenue on June 14, 2013. After the installation, WXXI’s production team continued to shoot the sculptures and events surrounding the project. That footage and interviews, coupled with footage shot for the six-part web series, tells the full story of the artist and Paley on Park Avenue.
Paley’s Park Avenue exhibit ran from June 14 – November 8, 2013. Eight of the 13 sculptures have been sold, including “Cloaked Intention”, which now resides on the newly formed quad between the Golisano Institute for Sustainability and Louise Slaughter Hall at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
Paley on Park Avenue: New York City was made possible with support from The Elaine P. and Richard U. Wilson Foundation and The Ames Amzalak Memorial Trust.
More about Albert Paley:
Albert Paley, an active artist for over 40 years, is the first metal sculptor to receive the coveted Institute Honors awarded by the American Institute of Architects, the AIA’s highest award to a non-architect. Paley, Distinguished Professor, holds an Endowed Chair at the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. Commissioned by both public institutions and private corporations, Paley has completed more than 50 site-specific works. Broadly published and an international lecturer, Paley received both his BFA and MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia.
More about Jay Schadler:
Jay Schadler is a two-time Emmy Award winning journalist, photographer and artist. He has been a correspondent and anchor for ABC News for nearly 30 years, reporting for 20/20, PrimeTime, Good Morning America, World News and Nightline. Shadler, who began his broadcasting career in Upstate New York, graduated from the S.U. Newhouse School of Public Communications and also received a law degree from the Syracuse University College of Law. An artist himself, Schadler has his own gallery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Shadler recently collaborated with WXXI and a local photographer, Jeffrey Mills, to create a unique poster of the façade of Rochester’s Little Theatre.
More about Park Avenue’s Temporary Public Art Collection:
The Sculpture Committee of The Fund for Park Avenue and the Public Art Program of the City of New York’s Department of Parks & Recreation have collaborated with artists to exhibit artwork on the medial strip of Park Avenue since 2000. Paley is the 20th artist to participate in the project. Paley’s exhibit ran from June 14-November 8, 2013. Funding for the Albert Paley exhibition on Park Avenue is generously provided by Ann Mulligan; Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT); Kathy and Marc LeBaron; Kenneth and Constance Hess; John and Fonda Elliot; and Klein Steel.