A high-rise building under construction with scaffolding on all sides, situated on a city street with cars and traffic lights.

We transform scaffold netting into public art space

currently on view:

Multicolored abstract painting on a large outdoor wall in an urban setting, with parked cars and trees in the foreground.

Artist info:

June Canedo de Souza (Website)
Yellow foot, thorn, fence 2025

Oil and acrylic paint, charcoal, oil pastels on canvas. 22’x23’

Location:
166 Washington Park
Between Myrtle & Willoughby St, Brooklyn NY

Past work:

Multi-story urban building with fire escape stairs, trees, cars parked on the street, and a large banner depicting a forest scene

Photo courtesy of the artist

Artist info:

SHIRT (IG / Web)
Whole worlds you never see a block over from where you normally walk, 2025
Photograph, 21x21 Feet

Location:
Carlton Ave & Myrtle Ave, Fort Greene, Brooklyn NY

Not-so-fun fact:

NYC has more scaffolding than anywhere in the world

At any given time, NYC has 8,000+ active scaffold sheds that stay up for an average of 500 days, creating over 1,900,000+ linear feet of scaffolding. (source)

Under construction high-rise building with exposed concrete floors and blue safety netting on a waterfront during daytime.
The Arc de Triomphe under renovation with scaffolding covering the monument, and it is behind a construction fence with colorful banners. Trees and buildings are visible in the background.

So we set out to make clever use of these blank canvases

A tall building under construction surrounded by scaffolding, with people and cars on the street in front.
City street scene with a building under renovation, covered by beige scaffolding and wrapped in protective netting, with pedestrians and cars in the foreground.

ABout
FACADE FOUNDATION:

Facade Foundation is a new public arts organization (501c3 pending) that turns scaffold netting at active construction sites around New York City into large-scale public art space.

Our mission is to create a sustainable model for bringing art into people’s everyday lives by transforming the city’s natural canvases into exhibition space, starting with scaffolding.

Working closely with artists, estates, and institutions, we facilitate the curation and installation of custom printed scaffold netting onto building facades, in collaboration with construction companies and building owners.

By turning these ubiquitous negative spaces throughout the city into canvases, we present a unique opportunity for artists to share their work with broad audiences and for building owners to leverage their space in collaboration with the city’s vibrant arts community. 

Artists:

If you are an artist or know any artists that you think whose work would be great on a facade, please @ us on Instagram @facadefoundation! Our Facade curatorial team is always looking out for new works and artists to discover. There is no limit to how many works you can submit in this way. In the near future there will be more traditional open calls for artists to submit their work so please check back and check our Instagram for updates to come!

How our process works:

  • We work with building owners, contractors and scaffolding companies to identify potential Facade locations.

  • Artwork for each location is selected by our curatorial team in collaboration with the artist.

  • We handle the special city permitting, large scale printing and fully licensed & insured installation process from start to finish.

  • No landfills! Once a Facade comes down, its second life begins in the form of being able to make everything with it from framed editions to tote bags.

Contact Us:

If you are a building owner, contractor or scaffolding company who would like to learn more about having a Facade at your job site, please email us here:

buildings@facadefoundation.org

Buildings

If you or your company is interested in sponsoring a Facade or donating to Facade Foundation to help us deliver on our mission please email us here:

donors@facadefoundation.org

Donors

If you’re interested in what we’re doing or if you have a general question, please email us here:

hello@facadefoundation.org

General