The mission of Troy Story Park, proposed for installation under the Collar City Bridge, was to give a voice to victims of mass incarceration, a pressing issue in the capital region of New York State. Racial bias in the criminal justice system [does something], and my team sought out to create a multi-pronged approach to letting local incarcerated persons and their families make a statement about how mass incarceration has impacted their lives. Along with playground and seating features, this project uses light and sound to tell stories. Audio can be recorded in the pavilion by the Hudson River, and audio plays telling other people's stories. Poetry is projected onto the piers that hold up the bridge, and Freedom Quilt patterns are projected onto the ground at night. The piers are painted to create a calming sunset effect. The light-box collonade displays photographs, curated by families of the incarcerated, which are color-coded to represent if the individual is incarcerated or free. All audio recordings, photographs, and displayed poetry gets archived online so that individuals can engage with the park online.

To read more about the LIDAR scan that went into making this project possible, check out this post.