Regarding the origin of the 100 Gates Project, Katie Archer, head of the project services department of the Lower East Side Business Improvement District (also known as Lower East Side BID), stated: “In 2014, the Lower East Side BID received a $30,000 grant from the New York City Department of Small Business Services under the name Community Challenge, and this funding was used to implement the regional graffiti cleanup program. At the same time, The New Museum located in the Lower East Side and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) also provided corresponding support for the project. Currently, our 100 Gates Project has completed the artistic graffiti transformation of over 10 roll-down gates.”
Archer said: “Compared to simple graffiti cleanup, the 100 Gates Project uses artistic graffiti carefully designed by artists from different cultural backgrounds to cover the chaotic graffiti on shop roll-down gates, transforming the storefronts that have become messy due to graffiti into creative works of art.”
Regarding whether there is a fee for the 100 Gates Project, Archer emphasized: “The artistic graffiti service provided for shop roll-down gates by the 100 Gates Project is 100% free. The costs for hiring artists and the materials needed for artistic graffiti will be covered by the Lower East Side BID.”
The 100 Gates Project is currently recruiting graffiti artists who wish to participate in the transformation project and obtain permission and support to display their graffiti works on shop facades. Artists can register on the 100 Gates Project website www.100gates.nyc. After receiving the registration and relevant information from the artists, the project team will facilitate communication between the shops applying for graffiti transformation and the artists, completing the artistic graffiti spraying between May and July. Artists will try to avoid spraying during business hours, and shops with special time requirements can also communicate with the project team.