Artist Paul Ramírez Jonas at the Key to the City kiosk in Times Square – all images by Lucy Kissel for ArtObserved

Together with the public arts organization Creative Time, New York-based artist Paul Ramírez Jonas has reinvented the civic honor of bestowing a “Key to the City” for one of the summer’s most exciting public art programs. Through June 27, 25,000 custom-made keys will be exchanged between everyday citizens in a bestowal ceremony at the Key to the City kiosk located at the heart of Times Square – catapulting a citywide exploration of secret doors, community gardens, graveyards and hidden deposit boxes at over 20 sites throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Mayor Bloomberg – who normally awards the ceremonial key to distinguished heroes and esteemed visitors – received the first one yesterday. “Every day, millions of New Yorkers and visitors from around the world interact with one another in every neighborhood” Bloomberg said, noting how the project “celebrates those interactions by helping bring a tradition typically reserved for special occasions to our everyday lives. The keys….will provide New Yorkers with a new way to experience some of our cultural organizations, city landmarks and small businesses.” Participants are encouraged to share their photos of the project on the Key to the City Flickr Page – a special prize from DKNY and a Creative Time book will be awarded to every person who takes a photo of themselves at all of the sites. Information on public hours, a map of the various sites and how to get to the kiosk can be found on the Key to the City website.

More images and a round-up of related links after the jump….

Related  Links:
Key to the City Homepage
‘Key to the City’ Kiosk [NY Times]
Park Slope artist Paul Ramírez Jonas gives ordinary people ‘key to the city’ [Daily News]
Get Your Key To The City (For Real) [Gothamist]
Get keyed into the Big Apple [NY Post]
Paul Ramirez Jonas, Creative Time Help Unlock New York City’s Secrets [Huffington Post]
Paul Ramírez Jonas’ “Key to the City” Opens Today! [PaperMag]
Key to the City [ArtLog]
KEYS TO THE WORLD [Village Voice]

This entry was posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 at 2:49 pm and is filed under AO On Site, Go See. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.