Found public space in New York is a precious commodity—and a small city agency is doing heroic work to make an off-the-grid impact. New York City DOT Art, a four-woman office within the 5,000-person Department of Transportation, has produced 245 projects across the five boroughs since being founded 2008. From the Summer Streets program, which recently concluded, to the City Plaza Program, which has transformed dangerous intersections at Times Square, Herald Square and Madison Square into local hangouts with snack bars and umbrella tables, DOT Art is has also been a commissioning agent for 270 artists so far.

DOT Art offers four different program tracks geared toward a wide spectrum of artists, from painters who might have never displayed public art to world-renowned sculptors. Emily Colasacco, director at DOT Art and Summer Streets, said the team emphasizes community-based projects and working with emerging and immigrant artists living in the city.

Lina Montoya, a Colombian-born graphic designer living in Staten Island, worked with the department after hearing of Art’s community commission program through a local immigrant advocacy group. Her project “Las Mariposas Amarillas,” installed on a chain-link fence in Port Richmond, the heart of Staten Island’s Mexican community, includes yellow butterflies on a blue city skyline and honors the journey of immigrants and their paths to freedom—a message that has, for Montoya, taken on an elevated importance under President Trump and his deportation efforts. Above: Las Mariposas Amarillas

The Pearl Street Triangle, in Brooklyn’s Dumbo, was the original test case for the Plaza Program. Described by Alexandria Sica, executive director of the Dumbo BID, as “the little parking lot that could,” this small space was formerly a dumping ground and later a parking lot adjacent to the archway under the Manhattan Bridge. Ten years ago the space was transformed into a neighborhood piazza that has since become the heart of the local community. In 2012, David Ellis, an established artist known for an invented process he calls "motion painting," gave street art a new meaning when he created a new “floor” for the beloved park. The space where neighbors and co-workers gather for lunch, snacks, evening performances and launch parties has become a real buffer against the tourist traffic along the East River waterfront. Photos above: The Pearl Triangle, before and after; photo courtesy DOT

Created during the Bloomberg administration to “rebalance” streets for pedestrians, DOT Art's commitment to public art springs from the vision of Wendy Feuer, who headed the city’s Arts for Transit program for 11 years. In 2007 she became assistant commissioner of urban design, art and wayfinding at the DOT. Her colleague, Emily Colasacco, said the team emphasizes community-based projects and working with emerging and immigrant artists living in the city. Projects on average take between four and six months to implement, and are supported by $200,000 in annual funding through the city’s OneNYC plan. The next challenge, according to Colassaco, is to find funding in a more permanent way.

For information about New York City DOT Art, which is currently running an open call for a Barrier Beautification project in the Bronx, go here