LentSpace is a temporary outdoor

art space An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues fo ...

and

sculpture garden A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaped surroundings. A sculpture garden may be private, owned by ...

located in

Hudson Square Hudson Square is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by Clarkson Street to the north, Canal Street to the south, Varick Street to the east, and the Hudson River to the west. To the north of the neig ...

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. The space, which opened in September 2009, is bounded by

Varick Street __NOTOC__ Varick Street runs north–south primarily in the Hudson Square district of Lower Manhattan in New York City, United States. Varick Street's northern terminus is in the West Village, where it is a continuation of Seventh Avenue South ...

to the west, Canal Street and Albert Capsouto Park to the south, Grand Street to the north, and

Sullivan Street Sullivan Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, which previously ran north from Duarte Square at Canal Street, but since around 2012 begins at Broome Street, to Washington Square South, through the neighborhoods of Hudson Square, SoHo, the S ...

and Duarte Square to the east.

History

The block occupied by LentSpace is part of a parcel of land granted to Trinity Church by Queen Anne in 1705. In the years prior to the park's opening in 2009, the church's development company demolished a number of buildings previously located on the site. The land is owned by Trinity Church and is slated for eventual development. The church negotiated a deal with the

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Lower may refer to: * Lower (surname) * Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) * Lower Wick Gloucestershire, England See also *Nizhny Nizhny (russian: Ни́жний; masculine), Nizhnyaya (; feminine), or Nizhneye (russian: Ни ...

(LMCC) to use the idle space for a period of about three years. LMCC raised about $1 million to transform the empty lot into a space to promote art in the neighborhood. Interboro Partners of Brooklyn designed the landscape, incorporating inexpensive materials such as gravel and plywood, reflecting the temporary nature of the space. The park is surrounded by a fence, the eastern edge of which is decorated with small, reflective aluminum disks. The interior features planters, benches and straight paths. The inaugural show in the space was entitled "Points and Lines" and featured seven installations by Graham Hudson, Eli Hansen and

Oscar Tuazon Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

, Ryan Tabor, Tobias Putrih,

Olga Chernysheva Olga Chernysheva (born 1962 in Moscow, Russia) is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Moscow. Her work spans film, photography, drawing and object-based mediums, where she draws on quotidian moments and marginal spaces from everyday life ...

, Corban Walker and Oliver Babin. The pieces all referenced civic design and construction techniques, using materials such as flagpoles, ladders, concrete and steel. Since then, the space has been used for a variety of different purposes. In 2010 LentSpace was featured in an episode of

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, '' Work of Art: The Next Great Artist''. In the summer of 2012 the space became home to a rotating lineup of

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s, accompanied by musical performances throughout the week. In late 2011, protesters from the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed prim ...

briefly occupied the space after being evicted from

Zuccotti Park Zuccotti Park (formerly Liberty Plaza Park) is a publicly accessible park in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York City. It is located in a privately owned public space (POPS) controlled by Brookfield Properties and Goldman Sac ...

. Trinity Church had denied permission for the protestors to use the space. On December 17, some protesters scaled the fences which surround the park while others squeezed beneath the fences.

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest i ...

officers arrested a number of protesters, including retired

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Bishop George Elden Packard.

References

External links

LMCC's LentSpace in Hudson Square
{{Tribeca, Manhattan Squares in Manhattan Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in New York (state) Public art in New York City Tribeca West Village Privately owned public spaces Hudson Square