The Guardians sculpture “Large Swan” at 70 E. 4th Street
by Mark Wilson Jr. and Miguel Valderrama
The Guardians is a creative installation by Mark Wilson Jr (artist) and Miguel Valderrama (lighting designer) honoring the small businesses, cultural organizations, and nonprofits who help sustain community and connection in the East Village / Loisaida neighborhood. This series of illuminated sculptures assembled from recycled sneakers and other materials were placed at a dozen locations across the neighborhood – each with a story to tell about the people and places that have, and continue to, represent the ethos of guardianship.
The Guardians project is a collaboration between FABnyc and Cooper Square Committee, with the support of FAB members and the East Village Independent Merchants Association (EVIMA).
More information and images can be found on The Guardians website: https://www.theguardians.lighting/.
Photos from our Opening reception and Walking Tour can be viewed here.
Mark Wilson, Jr. (artist) is self-taught sculptor and installation artist using found objects. After playing football at the University of Cincinnati and earning a Master’s degree in Applied Behavior Analysis, Mark picked up art as a therapist. He marries the unveiling of African American heritage with Afrofuturism to establish instruments for liberation. Repurposing often hidden narratives such as the Tennessee Rifles and Harlem Hell Fighters. Mark Anthony fuses Afro indigenous influences with history to assemble sculptural guides. He seeks to use charged materials that are familiar to self or family as adornment. Mark Anthony Wilson Jr has exhibited at The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, participated in residencies at The Elizabeth Foundation for Arts and Worthless Studios, and received support from Black Artist Fund, Seattle Arts & Culture, LAAMS NYC, and 757 Street Art. He served as co-facilitator for the LES Young Artists of Color Fellowship at FABnyc.
Miguel Valderrama (lighting designer) creates work with a focus on a constant exploration of lighting as a medium in different and changing environments and unconventional spaces. He has been an active theatrical lighting designer in New York City for the last fifteen years, working regularly with Latinx theaters and directors. He served as the director of lighting for the BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn Festival 2012-2018, for Photoville 2015-2021, and for Teatro Stage Fest 2009-12. Miguel is a professor of Lighting Design at the the department of Entertainment Technology at the New York City College of Technology – CUNY. Originally from Columbia, Miguel is a long time resident of Umbrella House on Avenue C in Loisaida.
The Locations
FAB, Cooper Square & East 4th Street
Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES)
La Plaza Cultural de Armando Perez
St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery
wild project & East 3rd Street
Veselka
Caravan of Dreams
The Center for Wellbeing and Happiness at The Lower Eastside Girls Club
Veniero’s
Umbrella House
The Team
Artist: Mark Wilson Jr
Lighting Designer: Miguel Valderrama
Project Manager: Ryan Gilliam
Visibility Campaign and Coordination: Abigail Ellman
Graphic and Web Design: Shannon Hui
Outreach Coordinator: Antígona González
Technical Director: Isabella Olgaard
Assistant Technical Director: Jorge Buenaventura
Operations Tech: Mathew Ramosa
Production Assistant: Daniela Flores
The project is supported by the Commercial District Lighting Grant created by the NYC Department of Small Business Services to fund nonprofit organizations to address commercial district needs for lighting improvements through creative lighting installations.
