Our Engaging Artists residents are currently volunteering each week with the local homeless population. Some of the volunteer opportunities involve creating collaborative artworks with homeless residents who are either in shelters or in affordable housing. We’d like to celebrate their hard work and compassion by taking a look at previously realized projects around the issue of homelessness. The first artist we’re featuring is Fanny Allié.

Fanny’s The Glowing Homeless (2011)  was exhibited at a public art event organized by Bring to Light NYC (Nuit Blanche), in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The Glowing Homeless is a neon outline of a human form resting on a park bench. Representing the homeless person sound asleep amongst the park’s crowds, through a rendering of neon light, I created an alluring object for Bring to Light NYC (Nuit Blanche). She says “Through my implementation of attractive materials, I reversed the normal reaction of avoidance, and drew people towards the form on the bench.”