THE EYE: A Tribute to the East Village Grit
Power, Space and Design: Design Interventions for Community + Cultural Preservation
Neighborhood: East Village, Manhattan
This project was to educate about history and how gentrification along with other factors can completely transform a neighborhood, leaving a lot of its cultural movements unrecognized. For the neighborhood of East Village, Manhattan, I created a design intervention for the community and cultural preservation. THE EYE is an immersive art gallery experience set in a warehouse that celebrates both the historical and contemporary artists of the East Village.
Project Overview
Planning an immersive art gallery experience set in a warehouse can celebrate both the historical and contemporary artists of the East Village. The theme would be gritty, raw, and nostalgic, reflecting the punk and DIY art scene that shaped Manhattan’s creative identity.
The gallery is meant to let people walk through the East Village’s timeline and feel how the art evolved throughout.
This experience is called THE EYE: A Tribute to the East Village Grit. The title THE EYE represents the East Village posters and magazines, but also represents the lens through which visitors can visually see the neighborhood’s creativity and how it had evolved through time.
Sources Used:
East Village Art Scene of the 1980s: https://ideelart.com/blogs/magazine/a-brief-look-at-the-east-village-art-scene-of-the-1980s
https://www.citizenoftheplanet.com/east-village-and-lower-east-side
https://www.irkmagazine.com/post/ghost-of-punk-east-village/
https://www.timeout.com/newyork/things-to-do/see-vintage-photos-of-the-east-village-in-the-1980s
The East Village in Manhattan was historically part of the Lower East Side, once one of New York City’s most densely populated immigrant neighborhoods, home mainly to Eastern and Southern Europeans.
By the 1970s and 1980s, it became a hub for artists, musicians, and countercultural movements, shaping its gritty, creative identity. Although it was facing poverty and rising crime, there was also a rise of graffiti and underground art. Artists like Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and David Wojnarowicz became icons.
After the 1990s, gentrification pushed out many artists and longtime residents. Squats were also cleared, rents skyrocketed, and the NYU expansion brought an increase of students and wealthier people.
Today, the East Village is known for its mix of old bohemian energy and modern urban culture. It is now a gentrified neighborhood with traces of immigrant roots and counterculture, but now is an area with boutiques, bars, and restaurants.
Advertising Poster
Perspective Sketch
Art Gallery Overview
Past Artists & Transformed Art Scene Wall Sketches
Past Artists Wall (1970s-1980s)
Contemporary art scene wall (2000s-Present)
Art Gallery Digital Overview
Art Gallery Digital Overview - Art Installed
Past Artists & Transformed Art Scene Wall Digital Overview
Past Artists Wall (1970s-1980s)
Featuring artists who defined New York’s East Village art scene of the 1970s and 1980s, full of graffiti, punk, and political resistance.
Contemporary art scene wall (2000s-Present)
Featuring artists who took the graffiti, punk, and DIY into the 21st century, transforming it through new mediums like screen printing, collage, and digital light.
