Times Square Art Installation Raises Money For Essential Workers

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A public art installation in Times Square is helping raise money for immigrant workers on the front lines of the city's response to the new coronavirus outbreak.

A second series of artworks is currently being displayed on massive Times Square billboards that once hawked products and hyped new movies and television programs, the Times Square Alliance said in a statement. The posters display positive messages and messages of thanks to workers who are risking their health during the crisis such as healthcare workers, first responders and delivery workers.

"Especially in times of uncertainty and change, artists can figuratively — and in Times Square literally — shine a light on hidden truths and celebrate those people and phenomena which are often unseen or unacknowledged. Our partnership with both For Freedoms and the New York Immigration Coalition speaks to that," Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, said in a statement.

The Times Square Alliance is partnering with the New York Immigration Coalition for the second phase of the art installation to raise money for immigrant workers by selling prints of a poster designed by the Mexican-born artist Pedro Reyes. Profits from the print, which is selling at $295 including shipping, will go directly to the coalition's #NYunitedFund started during the pandemic.

"Social distancing is a privilege. I chose this drawing as an homage to those workers who work with their hands and on whom we depend to keep society going," Reyes said in a statement.

Poster House and the publication Print Magazine connected graphic designers with Times Square Arts.

Times Square has been largely empty since city and state officials implemented social distancing measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus throughout the city. Only essential workers in fields such as healthcare, public transit, city agencies and first responders should be leaving the home to go to work, according to an executive order passed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The city's tourism agency, Times Square's main draw, has come to a complete standstill.

Poster designs will also be displayed on Link NYC kiosks throughout New York City, billboards above the Lincoln Tunnel and in cities such as Boston and Chicago. Billboard companies donated the space to the arts organizations, according to the Times Square Alliance.