Welcome to 56 street, between 9th and 10th avenue, in New York’s Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood. I would like to introduce you to two men who have made a difference. David Scalza a resident for the pasts 12 years, has brought his can do attitude, initiating countless imaginative projects to beautify the block. The 135-foot mural is one of these, recruiting Christopher Kull, a painter who spent two summers painting this mural.
I started the 56th Street Mural Project back in 2008. This was a way for me to keep busy and involved with life after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. I decided to do an alternative treatment which required me to be home a great deal of the time, and it wasn’t long before depression and a sense of despair crept back into my mind. Feeling alone and cut off from life, my response to these powerful feelings was to get busy. First came the two dogs my neighbors couldn’t keep, and dogs have to be walked. Central Park, is not far away, and is rich with tourists from around the world and the city who were anxious to pet, hold and photograph Juan and Juanita. I belonged again.
I began a sculpture garden in the courtyard of my building; new work and enthusiasm emerged--very necessary when coping with a possible life threating illness. And although the type of cancer I have is not as deadly as many others, my mind could make it fatal. I needed to be positive. Gardening and art, two things I love, were just what I needed to focus me and keep me from “stinking thinking”. NYC has the best trash and I have developed a keen sense for where the good stuff is and how to best use it as objets d’art. Neighbors and friends soon caught on to what I was doing and things just starting to appear in front of my building--interesting treasures. Thanks to Jimmy Lee, Humberto and C.T.
As for the Mural Project, getting to work again I felt alive and excited. A very talented young artist named Chris Kull was the muralist--he was very dedicated. I was the project coordinator. Working together, the extremely large mural was completed in only two years, to the pleasure of all who experience it’s powerful expression. All my involvement in these projects have been motivated by a powerful desire to stay alive, and I will continue to be involved in whatever comes my way for that very purpose. It is also my deepest desire that it serves and inspires others to stay alive and be involved in this wonderful and challenging life.
Special thanks to : Libby Scalza-Kasalk, my mother who believed in me
enough to help me financially so I could heal and undertake these
projects.
---James Garland, a fine and generous artists who helped enormously
with the sculpture garden, including a small mural he painted there,
and also in helping with the opening event.
---Michael Felber, a friend and collaborator, providing assistance
before, during, and after the opening. Michael is organizing Hell’s
Kitchen open studio tours at www.artistsinthekitchen.org
---Friends and neighbors who supported the projects from early on, up
to the opening--without your kind words of encouragment and donations
it would not have gone as smoothly as it did. Shannon Baker, a mentor
and friend thank you.
Bob Nichols thank you.
Some time after an influence of Zen in 2001 and years later an influence of Physics, I started to regain a new desire to create. But the creating process was different. It was no longer creating a pretty picture. It became similar to the process of Inventing. In this mind-set the creation process gained more of a purpose with interesting possibilities to discover. My style/interest is in the Impressionist neighbourhood but still evolving. I titled it 56 String Movement combining influences from String Theory, String/Sound Movement and 56th Street. The two main elements in the mural are a Double Bass Instrument and Space. The left end of the mural is land that started out mimicking the shape of Manhattan Island, but became the body of the Bass instrument. The Bass strings stretch over the bridge of the bass/land and start to spread out and wave in space similar to sound waves or the vibrating strings in string theory. In the far right end of the mural the background started as a Hubble telescope image, but developed into a mass of impressionist marks and colour vibrations. Within this mass of colours the strings meet up with the Head of the Bass instrument. The Bass Head also doubles as a boat with tuners/oars potentially used to manoeuvre around the waters of Manhattan Island or in space. The Sail elements on the land/bass body are meant to be a bit mysterious. The images above the Bass and around the 9 foot Earth are the Milky Way Galaxy, Star Clusters, and a Supernova Remnant taken by the Hubble telescope and used with permission from STScI. The people in the mural live or work on that block of 56th street in Manhattan, NY.
Through the WEB, I would like to share with you “my coming out” documentary, after 28 years as an ABC TV NEWS editor. I recently documented the work of Christopher Kull the muralist of the 135-foot wall, painted in New York Citys' "Hells Kitchen". In the process of documenting the mural I discovered the magical world of David Scalza, a resident on the block. I want to thank both David and Christopher for being the subjects of this documentary. My newfound creative freedom, challenging at times, has also transported me back to earlier days in my career. Times where I worked on my own projects, doing both the camera and editing work. Part of my goal is to create more personal media stories, and present them on the WEB. In addition I would like to thank Rosemarie for the continued undivided support.