A SEAT AT THE TABLE

In October 2024, the eleventh-grade digital media students at the High School of Fashion Industries (HSFI) crafted a collection of imaginative, innovative designs. These young artists immersed themselves in the district's textures, colors, and rhythms through site visits, museum tours, and observations.

Each design captures a personal interpretation of the District’s grit, elegance, and avant-garde spirit, as seen through the eyes of the next generation of designers.

The designs are on display along the Meatpacking District’s Ninth Avenue Plazas through December 2024.

“For my project, I used popular landmarks like the High Line, and more specific to the Meatpacking District like the Whitney Museum and the Little Flatiron building, to show the Meatpacking District’s most popular destinations. My art elements were graffiti, and I used American graffiti artists like CornBread, Seen, Lady pink, and Al Diaz to reference graffiti art history, as graffiti is well-known in New York City in general. The red umbrellas are a reference to the famous red umbrellas in Meatpacking and the Broadway Boogie-Woogie painting by Piet Mondrian on the Whitney. Lastly, I tried to use brighter, colorful colors to reference graffiti art and my art style.” - Ray Weir

“The idea behind “The Woman and the Red Umbrellas” is an artistic piece I created using different variations of principles/elements of art. This artwork was meant to depict and reflect on the theme of ”Walk out of the past and into your future in Meatpacking” by using a ballerina and Keith Haring figures to really demonstrate how the first stage to let go of the past truly is by learning to self-sacrifice which is what the concept behind the ballerina was. Ballerinas in the past symbolized/and represented the ideology of self-sacrificing, which is having to sacrifice everything to improve in self-development. Ballerinas constantly work hard to change what they have to move towards and try to break the struggles they so immensely go through. The Meatpacking still includes elements of the past while still incorporating modernist features in their district. Keith Haring is an artist who most commonly used symbols to transcend /speak to his audience. He used his art to spread awareness and messages without directly drawing his ideas out. “The Woman and the Red Umbrellas” was an art piece I created hoping to take features and things I've seen in the Meatpacking District and make an entire message to share with the public.” - Lina Vargas

“I wanted to show the past and present of the Meatpacking District by combining past and present landmarks in the neighborhood. I did this with the High Line, which originated as a train line that delivered ingredients to factories for food companies like Nabisco. I also used this as an opportunity to incorporate graffiti elements by putting a mural directly referencing Nabisco (known as the National Biscuit Company in the 1920s) on the train to show the prominence of train graffiti in New York City in the 1970s-1980s. I added greenery and flowers to the High Line to display the current state of the High Line as a public park. I used a geometric style of rendering with saturated and bold colors that is inspired by both Nina Chanel Abney’s work and some of my own personal art pieces.” - Lei Marcano

“My design is inspired by pop art and photography. The image is a reflection of what self-identity might have felt like for many people in the LGBTQ+ community, from the 1970s to the present day. One image shows a person looking into a mirror, their masculine aura contrasting with a feminine reflection. This symbolizes the internal struggle many experienced in the LGBTQ+ community. Another image, of a person hiding behind a magazine, represents the historical taboo and shame associated with LGBTQ+ identities. This work acknowledges past struggles and celebrates present progress, offering hope for a future of acceptance and understanding.” - Marilyn Leal

“Inspired by pop art and graffiti, I created a design of the High Line in the Meatpacking District to represent the mind-body connection. Pop art reintroduces reality with vibrant and clashing yet complementary colors, giving us a new perception of what we ordinarily find normal. And then there’s graffiti, a form of art that can sometimes be looked down upon but shows the neighborhood's physical energy, the spontaneousness people hold at their fingertips. In my design, I focused on creating a view of the High Line with a main focus on the cobblestone floors using colors that pop and catch the viewer's eyes aiming to express the bright atmosphere in the Meatpacking District.” - Elliot Galindo

“My design is inspired by postmodernist pop art and street art to communicate the emotional and physical aspects of the Meatpacking District. The piece portrays the historical LGBTQ+ aspect of the district while giving a unique story to accompany it. I decided to go for a comic book inspired by Roy Lichtenstein's paintings. The background story for my piece is two women in love who are separated by the time’s societal expectations. Beatrice (far right) met Tammy (left) on the corner of Gansevoort Street, outside the small Flatiron building. After several unexpected encounters, the two became friends, but soon their friendship blossomed, and they felt more for each other. Beatrice married a man, preventing their relationship from becoming anything more. Tammy often finds herself lost in thoughts of the woman she met outside the flatiron.” - Ella Braffith

“My design was inspired by the golden hour and the faint glow it gives off in the area this design was based on the Meatpacking District. I wanted to conceptualize how I felt while being in the area, which was a sense of bliss and calmness. I used a brick overlay for the background that overlapped the city landscape. I also added umbrellas from the Meatpacking District to further show what this design was based on. As for the figure in the center, I wanted her hair to be infused with the clouds in the sky and her eyelashes to be as yellow and bright as the sun. Giving her a white outfit wasn’t initially my idea, but I decided that it would stand out from the background. This was an opportunity that I am very happy and grateful to be a part of, and I hope I can further my horizon with new and bigger projects from here on out.” - Amechi Chukwujiorah-Strange

“I’m a junior at The High School of Fashion Industries. I am a young African American and Puerto Rican artist. In truth, this isn't the usual art I'm used to, but I saw the opportunity to expand my skills and go out of my comfort zone to achieve the look I aimed for. I intended to incorporate an element of The Meatpacking District into a piece. Via the brick background of the industrial buildings and the many textures I observed, I thought of doing a dancer that still had the mystique of my own work but kept true to Meatpacking. This piece was influenced by The Edges of Ailey exhibit in The Whitney Museum. The fluid motion of the dancers and the textures I observed in the art inspired me. I hope the viewers see the message I wanted to share– a dancer looking out into the distance or the future, in hopes of something good.” - Jasmine E. Perez