Urban Renewal Revisited

In 1969, the Common Council passed two resolutions: one authorizing the Hudson Urban Renewal Agency to acquire real property in the Urban Renewal Area; the other executing a contract for a "Demolition Grant under Title I of the Housing Act of 1949." These resolutions committed the City to obliterating everything on the west side of Front Street and everything north of Prison Alley and west of Second Street and re-imagining and re-creating this section of the city as a concentration of subsidized housing. Fifty years later, Sean Desiree takes a new view of the buildings constructed during that era--Bliss Towers, Schuyler Court, Hudson Terrace, and Providence Hall--in the project, LIFTED: Public Housing, an Aerial Perspective. 

The collection of pieces by artist and woodworker Sean Desiree, which also includes Crosswinds and two public housing projects not in Hudson--Greenport Manor and Stottville Court--has been on display at MINNA, 421 Warren Street, since Winter Walk. Today, Sunday, December 15, is the last day the works will be exhibited there. The following commentary about the project is found on the MINNA Facebook page.

When Sean first reached out to us about a possible collaboration, they shared with us the inspiration they draw from the women of Gee's Bend, as well as their desire to highlight how public housing communities function as their own microcosms, separate from and often neglected by their larger communities. This dynamic is very present in the city of Hudson, and the public housing just a block over is often ignored by businesses and residents on wealthier Warren Street. MINNA is honored to host these works and proud to take part in a conversation about the problematic tension between these two spheres in our hometown.

Sean's pieces are handcrafted out of repurposed pallets, a 19th-century schoolhouse in Albany, and scraps from other woodworkers. The title holds a dual meaning, referencing the series' intent to support residents of the public housing through both the grant and through the creation and celebration of work that highlights its beauty. It also refers to the literal and metaphorical perspective shift involved in portraying the buildings from an aerial view.

Each of the seven pieces is available for purchase at MINNA or online. (Two have already been sold.) The sale of the work will fund a grant to be awarded to a local artist or maker who lives in public housing in Hudson. The grant recipient will be chosen by a panel made up of Sean Desiree, Sara Berks of MINNA, artist Tschabalala Self, and a member of the Hudson Housing Authority. The deadline for submitting an application for the grant in January 15, 2020. The grant application can be found here. 
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