This holiday season, Nassau Street will see its empty storefronts transformed into artistic displays of holiday cheer.
Art on the Ave and the Alliance for Downtown New York have partnered to present “Art Above the Mantel,” a collection of visual art installations on display from November 25th through the end of December.
The fireplace mantel - symbolizing warmth, home, and the holiday spirit - serves as the inspiration for local artists to create their signature pieces.
Wednesdays 4-7pm
Saturdays 1-4pm
November 25 to December 23
live painting
musical performances
holiday market
create art
November 29
Opening Reception, 4-7pm
December 2
Paint by Number Mural, 1-4pm
December 9
Hot Chocolate Story Time with Lionel the Lying Lion, 1-4pm
December 16
Holiday Singalong, 1-4pm
Schedule of Events
Amir Diop
72 Nassau Street
Amir Diop is an artist born and raised in NYC. Amir uses his art as a vehicle to express ideas and feelings about the world. In his formative years, Amir found it a struggle to read because of dyslexia, and it is this experience that has led to Amir's desire to work with early learners. Lionel The Lying Lion is Amir’s first storybook, illustrated completely in the neo-savage painting style of which he is a cofounder. Using the neo-savage backdrop, where paint is applied in layers and where small details are added to make the whole picture appear full, Lionel The Lying Lion comes to life through augmented reality in each painting.
Calicho
25 John Street
Carlos was born in Bogota, Colombia and was raised in interesting places like India and Mexico. He delighted in observing and absorbing the best that those cultures offered. He is inspired by nature’s rhythms and forces as well as life’s emotions, whether good or bad. He expresses this in his painting by using clashing colors to translate his feelings and then infusing them back into his work. As a Latin American Architect and artist, his inspiration comes from his own native colorful and joyous culture. His projects intend to cultivate a sense of balance and contrast and his techniques fuse his love of architecture and wildlife.
Shanequa Benitez
80 Nassau Street
Shanequa’s art is her heart, pain, love, fears, doubts, beliefs, traumas, and her purpose! Her creative process stems from her emotions and current events; things she’s witnessed and experienced. “Never Conform” is a way of life for Shanequa, and she includes it in her work often. When starting new work, Shanequa’s first question is, “How do I feel?” The process usually starts with reference materials like books, magazines, TV, current events, and real life experiences. She considers her paintings neo-Impressionism. She rejects the traditional standards of composition and design while conveying emotion and meaning rather than reality.
Lucas Goly
33 Maiden Lane
(corner Nassau St and Maiden Lane)
Lucas is a self-taught painter, illustrator, and digital artist located in Bed-Stuy. A New York native, Lv<^ aims to embed and speak to elements of his life’s experience by utilizing vivid imagery, colors, and brushstrokes throughout his work. Lucas embraces technology and sees Web 3 as a platform that will help artists be seen and heard by a far wider audience.
33 Maiden Lane
Lance Johnson
(corner Nassau St and Maiden Lane)
Lance Johnson is a Columbus-based mixed media artist. Originally from the Bronx, Lance uses his experience of the vibrant urban landscape in his works to celebrate and center inspiration.
Jon Souza
33 Maiden Lane
(corner Nassau St and Maiden Lane)
Jon Souza (aka Phes) is a Brazilian-American artist from Harlem, NYC. He is a graffiti/mural artist, emcee, producer, educator and cultural ambassador. Born and raised in New York, he started painting and recording music at an early age. His work focuses on using art and creativity as a medium for education, wellness, social justice and community building.
Barry Mason
33 Maiden Lane
(corner Nassau St and Maiden Lane)
Barry sees himself as a “composer” when he constructs his large shaped and sculpted abstract
paintings. As he's creating, he feels an ancestry spirit pulling him far back to an ancient African trail. He hears their chant and it motivates him to extend his creative reach and change the boundaries through his love of shapes. Altering the traditional 45 degree angle of a rectangle or square canvas to multiple forms, degrees, and dimensions.
Kate Fauvell
28 Liberty Street Interior Gallery
As a native New Yorker, Kate is accustomed to change. Over the course of her lifetime, New York City has transformed itself countless times. That experience informs her art. Kate is inspired by people and systems. She takes pictures as a means of understanding and documenting the world, and she uses these images to create photo-based collage paintings. The fragmentation of the torn photos depict how Kate sees our world systems—messy and broken. She breaks down existing structures and creates new compositions to create new worlds that seek systemic justice and redefine beauty.
CLoD
28 Liberty Street Level Gallery
CLoD is driven by her fascination with human behavior and her desire to express it through vibrant, whimsical paintings. Her work is an exploration of the complexities of identity, social norms, and the ways in which we construct our realities. Growing up in Venezuela, CLoD was heavily influenced by the bold use of color and patterns in indigenous cultures. Additionally, the works of Quino, Tarantino, and the Beatles have played a significant role in shaping my artistic style.
Konstance Patton
Konstance is a Michigan-born New York-based artist and art educator with a passion for empowering communities. Konstance is an enrolled member of the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians and carries a long tradition of arts and storytelling. Her work includes street art, set design, fashion, sculpture, animation, and audio. She uses her work for community healing and beautification. Konstance is co-founder of the Soho Renaissance Factory (SRF).