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One small step for man, one giant step for art and design

Fellowship allows 2006 grad to create installation on landmark New York steps

A 2006 graduate of The Cleveland Institute of Art is unveiling a collection of site-specific public furniture pieces August 17 on the landmark steps of New York's Brooklyn Borough Hall. Sculpture graduate Mark A. Reigelman II created "Stair Squares" as both a functional and an aesthetic work.

"They will be strategically integrated into the urban landscape and incorporated into daily life," Reigelman said of the brightly colored steel cubes that will fit into the treads and risers of the historic steps. He envisions people eating lunch or enjoying the paper and a cup of coffee at these squares, which could serve as tables, or as aesthetic assets.

"This project not only crosses the boundaries of design and art, but raises questions concerning the respective function of aesthetics as an organizing principle within public spaces and as a way to facilitate, within the framework of daily life, various forms of social, economic and leisurely interactions," said Saul Ostrow, chair of the Institute's visual arts and technologies environment, curator and art critic.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said she is pleased that Brooklyn Borough Hall is hosting this innovative project. "Here at Borough Hall, we love our ‘front porch' and our ‘piazza' and we're thrilled that Mark Reigelman will be giving our beautiful building's classical grandeur a little bit of modern moxie."

In May 2006, Reigelman was awarded one of ten $15,000 Windgate Fellowship Awards given to graduating art students across the country to allow them to pursue their artwork. The Windgate awards are administered by the University of North Carolina Center for Craft, Creativity and Design.

Paul Hashier of Hashier and Hashier Mfg. Inc. in Avon Lake is coordinating the manufacturing of "Stair Squares." The ‘Squares' will be on display from August 17-26 at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn, New York, thanks to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and Markowitz. More images of the "Stair Squares" and other projects by Reigelman can be found athttp://www.reigelman.com/.