Public Art – Arch on Old Falls Street – Niagara Falls, New York

Isaac Kremer/ August 30, 2018/ AI Assisted, Physical, public art/ 0 comments

This is the “Arch on Old Falls Street” public art installation was conceptualized, designed, and engineered by Jesse Walp, a local Buffalo artist and associate professor of interior design at Villa Maria College. Standing 26 feet tall and 14 feet wide, the towering aluminum structure mimics the rushing and splashing flow of water over the brink of Niagara Falls. The vibrant blue urethane rubber spheres branching out from the top represent glistening water droplets catching the sunlight. They are meant to evoke the mist shimmering off the ponchos worn by passengers on the iconic Maid of the Mist boat tour. Unveiled on July 13, 2018, the piece was funded via a $60,000 grant from the USA Niagara Development Corporation to boost placemaking and urban aesthetics along the streetscape. The selection process was guided by curators from Buffalo’s Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright-Knox Art Gallery). The sculpture stands as a prominent photo backdrop on Old Falls Street. This three-block cobblestone pedestrian plaza serves as a main corridor connecting downtown hotels, like the Sheraton Niagara Falls, with the main entrance of Niagara Falls State Park.