{"id":649648,"date":"2026-05-18T03:55:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/649648\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T03:55:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T03:55:06","slug":"hurly-whirly-new-kinetic-sculpture-adds-color-creativity-to-fourth-avenue-median-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/649648\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Hurly-Whirly,\u2019 new kinetic sculpture, adds color, creativity to Fourth Avenue median \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

A kinetic burst of color now spins in place on the median of Fourth Avenue and Second Street, where a new public art installation is reshaping a familiar stretch of road bordering Park Slope and Gowanus.<\/p>\n

The massive, 11-foot-by-8-foot colorful kinetic sculpture titled \u201cHurly-Whirly\u201d was designed by artist David Barthold and manufactured by a team of five young people who are part of the Beam Center\u2019s paid Art Production Apprenticeship program.<\/p>\n

The three-dimensional piece, which will be on view through fall 2026, is constructed of marine-grade plywood fins attached to a steel structure secured into the ground by threaded anchors. Rust-resistant, exterior-grade enamel paint protects the sculpture from the elements, and, depending on wind conditions, the painted plywood wings on top of the sculpture spin thanks to a rotating steel post.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cHurly Whirly\u201d is a new public art installation on Fourth Avenue and Second Street.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann \"\"\u201cHurly Whirly\u201d is a new public art installation on Fourth Avenue and Second Street.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Barthold drew inspiration from whimsical roadside art along America\u2019s highways, when traffic and life moved more slowly and caught the curiosity of passing drivers. He said he hopes \u201cHurly-Whirly\u201d invokes the same sense of wonder he felt during long family road trips through the South and Midwest in the 1960s and 1970s.<\/p>\n

The multimedia artist told Brooklyn Paper he wanted to create a sculpture that would make people smile as they drove past the gray stretch of road along Fourth Avenue.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a native New Yorker, so I always feel like there\u2019s this undercurrent of crankiness in the city, and I\u2019m thinking like I was worried about whether it would attract positive attention or negative attention, and it\u2019s been overwhelmingly positive. I think people really want to see, and they do see, wonderful public art around the city, especially in recent years,\u201d Barthold said, noting that it was \u201cwonderful\u201d to be a participant in the life of the city. \u201cIt\u2019s about, really, just spreading joy. I want people to feel like they\u2019re living in a wonderful, beautiful city that\u2019s full of surprises and unexpected pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project is a collaborative effort between Why Not Art<\/a>, which champions public and immersive art in Gowanus and beyond; Forth on Fourth Ave<\/a> (FOFA); Arts Gowanus<\/a>; and the Beam Center<\/a>. It also includes support from local partners such as the Old Stone House, the Gowanus BID Formation Committee, the Gowanus Neighborhood Arts Advisory Committee (GNAAC), and the New York City Department of Transportation Art Program, which had to approve the installation.<\/p>\n

\"\"Artist David Barthold (far right) designed the sculpture.Photo courtesy of Why Not Art<\/p>\n

Grace Freedman, managing director of Why Not Art and co-chair of FOFA, told Brooklyn Paper that FOFA had been advocating for a cleaner, greener and more creative Fourth Avenue for more than 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to bring public art to Fourth Avenue, so we worked with Arts Gowanus and also the Beam Center to identify an artist who could make a sculpture that would work in the area and could also be constructed and fabricated by teen apprentices from the Beam Center,\u201d Freedman explained, and said she hopes the installation is the first of many projects along Fourth Avenue.<\/p>\n

Community response has been overwhelmingly positive, Freedman said, even inspiring creativity in kids.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cOne person emailed me saying that they pass by it every day with their child on the way to school. And the child had made up all kinds of stories about it and what it was for,\u201d Freedman said, noting that the organization and its collaborators hope the sculpture inspires people to envision Fourth Avenue as an exciting destination and creative neighborhood, not just a high-volume traffic thoroughfare.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cHurly-Whirly,\u201d a new public art installation, stands at Fourth Avenue and Second Street.Photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

\u201cThe sculpture is delightful for cars, but also for walkers, bikers along the Fourth Avenue bike lane, and passersby, and we\u2019re hoping it draws excitement and attention to Fourth Avenue,\u201d Freedman said.<\/p>\n

She said she hopes \u201cHurly-Whirly\u201d is the first of many art projects along Fourth Avenue, but noted that it depends on resources and support from the New York City Department of Transportation, which must approve art installations on the median.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can only do one installation at a time, we probably will move it to different locations along Fourth Avenue,\u201d Freedman said. \u201cIf we can do multiples, we\u2019ll plan for that, like maybe we can do something where things are sort of staggered, so that there\u2019s always something. But we\u2019re kind of at the beginning of making that long-term plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Beam Center, a youth development and education organization, provides creative opportunities for thousands of young people ages 8 to 18 in collaboration with teachers and artists across New York City every year. The collaboration on the public art project not only enriches the neighborhood but also promotes skills training and employment for young people in the community, including 17-year-old Justin and 18-year-old Tahied, two of the five Beam apprentices who worked on the project.<\/p>\n

\"\"Participants of the Beam Center\u2019s Art Production Apprenticeship program work on the kinetic sculpture titled \u201cHurly-Whirly.\u201d \"\"Participants of the Beam Center\u2019s Art Production Apprenticeship program work on the kinetic sculpture titled \u201cHurly-Whirly.\u201dPhoto courtesy of Why Not Art<\/p>\n

\u201c[This] has been a great experience, [and it] has helped me learn more about precision and patience. I feel proud because we\u2019ve come so far; it\u2019s turned into a beautiful piece with color and pizzazz. I feel very accomplished,\u201d Justin said in a statement, with Tahied adding, \u201cThis has been a new experience. I like working with schematics and seeing all the pieces come together like a puzzle. Having the artist involved was also great; I liked having him teach us painting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Cohen, executive director of the center, told Brooklyn Paper that \u201cHurly-Whirly\u201d was Justin\u2019s and Tahied\u2019s capstone project in the public art production apprenticeship at Beam, which started as a sleepaway camp in New Hampshire 22 years ago and expanded to New York City in 2012.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an incredible amount of pride that the skills that they are learning at Beam have direct application to making Brooklyn more beautiful,\u201d Cohen said. \u201cWe love having beautiful things that are hard to do and improve everyone\u2019s life, as proof that teenagers are capable of incredible things. And we\u2019re excited at the prospect of being able to work with this coalition again, and hopefully for many years to make that part of Brooklyn as beautiful as it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A kinetic burst of color now spins in place on the median of Fourth Avenue and Second Street,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[147948,228,226,227,280231,280232,280233,7567,280234,229,88,280235,280236,280237,280238,3,4910,166036,280239],"class_list":["post-649648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-art-installation","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-beam-center","tag-beam-center-youth","tag-brian-cohen","tag-brooklyn","tag-david-barthold","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-grace-freedman","tag-hurly-whirly","tag-hurly-whirly-art-installation","tag-kinetic-sculpture","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-park-slope","tag-why-not-art"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}