Author: Kelly M. Coffey

Part I Drinking with friends usually ends with some crazy story, like those hazy summer nights drinking in the Village, open to any thing (or person) that is a catalyst for the next adventure. I wouldn’t know after several rounds of PBR on one particular night that trying to find me a date would eventually lead to me visiting Toronto, adding their urban art scene my catalog of wanderlust photos. So started the night, picking out guys to totally pick apart. We mostly enjoyed creating background stories for rando guys on the fly. After we got bored with our dissections,…

Belfast & Coleraine, N.I., 2013 Much of my passion for art comes from growing up in the enriching communities of New York City, but traveling has taught me to recognize the quality of life it brings to any community. I think integrating visual art into our daily commutes is one of those simple things that allows people to connect without judgments or prejudice. Any form of art is meant to be a shared, subjective experience, to invoke emotions and challenge observers’ perceptions, whether in the form of music, stick figures or performance arts. My dad and I planned an adventure…

Having lived in other places has opened my eyes to how small the world can become after a while. When I was young, my parents moved us out of Queens. I went to high school in Puerto Rico, then attended college in Westchester County back in NY. After graduating college, I wound up picking the sketchiest neighborhood to live in the Bronx for a year, during which 9/11 occurred, and went existentialist on my life, packed my boxes and moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. It took me about six months to find my people, the friends who would change…

Art is truly immeasurable. In a conversation with fellow photographer Julie Cousens, I asked about putting art, sports, dance, and other healthy outlets back in schools. A question that came up and resonated with all of us was: what if we equipped our children with cameras to shoot instead of guns? Of course I’m oversimplifying a huge problem, but let’s think about how cathartic exercise and meditation feel and how did we get to the point where people think arts in school are of no importance?             Life happens and everybody needs outlets to help cope with demands and natural…

Call for Submissions! There are extraordinary places offering the most amazing workshops, classes, events, and exhibits right at our fingertips! Here is a list of Everything Art in the state of New York, with a focus on NYC, Long Island, and Hudson Valley. These are the places that fill the voids left in our schools and workplaces; they are spots to relax and release, to brainstorm and resolve, to exist and simply be without pressures to do. The Heckscher Museum of Art in Long Island has incredible events and exhibits coming up this year. Check out their family activities and…

@TheBDAC Part I http://bluedoorartcenter.org/ Executive Director & Co-Founder: Julie Cousens Living in NYC will take a toll on anybody. Congested crowds, long commutes, subways and bus lines always messed up and running late, people often cranky, offensive mystery odors, unpredictable weather, irresponsible pet owners, endless traffic as a pedestrian, cyclist, driver, even on the subway – all of which can wreak havoc on the brain and body. A lot of this tension tends to kick my instincts straight into survival mode, to a headspace where I forget standing in line to order a ridiculously overpriced coffee is a self-contrived first…

Shortly after John’s acquisition of LIB Magazine, I asked if content was needed and how to go about submissions. We brainstormed some ideas and luckily, he wanted to pair photos he had seen on my Instagram to the stories I’d often spout off in our text convos; he asked I write from a personal point of view. This was exciting since I hadn’t written much in the past few years and half the things that happen to me often seem stranger than fiction. I need to share half the craziness I experience to see if any or some of…

Part One  Have you ever met people you knew instantly you would be connected to forever? I will never forget my first days of college: the freshman orientations, meeting tons of new people, being excited about leaving home, and all the other freedoms that come with fresh beginnings. There were so many decisions those first few days. In the beginning, I wanted to pursue my degree in writing but was told I was a terrible writer and should quit by a professor, so I did. It wasn’t difficult since I only gave it up as my major and picked it…

It’s a challenge trying to pinpoint what peaked my interest in street art and when I started taking photos of urban works since I wasn’t terribly interested in the graffiti as I saw it in the 80’s. It might’ve been a little later in college when I met an international student named Marco from Italy. He was a character, tough guy with heart of gold who loved his old school eighties hip hop culture, complete with beats, kicks, pops & locks. I remember us taking a trip down to a shop in Chinatown to pick up some books he said…

The influence for public art has in one way or another been in demand in this city for as long as I can recall. Central Park, for example, has been the home for the Alice in Wonderland statue and Strawberry Fields, the memorial for the late John Lennon. I feel fortunate to have grown up with these landmarks as a playground and to see their effects on other city dwellers today. These places are reminders that visual expression is not limited to oil paints on canvas, but just about anything we can transform. The area at the southeast corner of…