The New York City Department of Sanitation has been in the news with a call for artists to paint a DSNY Collection Truck, encouraging New Yorkers to recycle and keep our City healthy, safe and clean. Below are images from the 2019 Trucks of Art Program.
This year, the Sanitation Department will once again put out a Call for Artists! In a press release dated August 25, 2022, the Department of Sanitation released dates for submissions that must be in by Sunday, September 18, 2022.
The project, ‘Trucks of Art‘ gives artist an opportunity to create work focused on sustainability, using paint that would otherwise have been discarded or recycled.
“This is the first time we’re transforming our collection trucks into artists’ canvases,” said Acting Sanitation Commissioner Steven Costas. “Trucks of Art is also a zero-waste challenge: Artists will encourage recycling or honor New York’s Strongest by using paints that would otherwise go to waste.”
Artist’s submitted their designs earlier this year. Five artists were chosen, one from each borough, and on Thursday, July 12, 2019, the #TrucksOfArt made their debut in Times Square. Artists included @LadyKFever (image above), @ilovemyhood ~ @mdot_season ~ @nycschools ~ @energytechts ~ and Jillian White.
The New York City Department of Sanitation isn’t new to the world of art and culture. For more than thirty years, sanitation worker Nelson Molina collected objects of art along his East Harlem route ~ hundreds and hundreds of objects. He was known for his Sanitation Museum, Treasures in the Trash. Now, Hunter East Harlem Gallery opened its doors to the art exhibition, What is Here is Open: Selections from the Treasures in the Trash Collection, on view to September 14, 2019.