Fly Away Isles was inspired by the playful imaginations of children from a youth community organization through a project sponsored by an international toy company. With a focus on Black and Latinx youth, the non-profit selected is where children claim the power of their history and community to build their future. With a prominent artist, stakeholder organizations invited children to use the ultimate creative medium, building blocks, to express their ideas for how they would help their community play more. Through the collaborative two-way design session, the project developed into a playful art walkway that transformed a city plaza into an immersive playful environment.

Special Factors:

The installation followed new research from the company that backed this project, which found that a third of parents (29%) in the U.S. say they don’t play enough as a family, with 82% of children living in New York wishing for more play. One of the most inspiring things about the project is the way children who live within a mostly disadvantaged area in West Harlem were able to take ownership of the design concepts of their future immersive, playful art environment that allowed individuals of all ages to experience play together.

As a temporary exhibit on Department of Transportation grounds, where the installation could not penetrate the street bed, the project naturally came along with challenges in both the design and installation phases to ensure a successful installation. Utilizing the design concepts from the children of the youth community organization, the world-renowned artist and his team crafted an initial proposal. From that proposal, several other stakeholders came together, including a landscape architect, an international brand agency partner, a park and recreation design consultant, a custom metal fabricating engineer, and an experienced street paint artist. Utilizing the individual talents of these participants, the scope of the exhibit transformed many times over the course of several months to ensure a fruitful project that was an extraordinary success.