Neighbors help shape a billboard art residency

What would you put on a billboard above the BQE?

That question is behind an exhibition at Café Liebre introducing a project led by artist Rachel G. Barnard.

Barnard owns the Third Avenue building beside the BQE overpass where the billboard in question has sat unused for more than a decade. She received three Department of Buildings summonses because of the structure, including one related to its height. Although the summonses were dismissed on a technicality, the underlying compliance issues remained. Barnard says DOB regarded the billboard as something that needed to come down, an expense she would have been on the hook for.

Instead, Barnard and an informal group of local creatives, including neighbor Anna Walling, began exploring whether it could be used for public art. Their proposed annual residency is called Cielo Público / 共享天空 / Sky Public.

Through the second half of September, Café Liebre patrons have added their own drawings to the exhibition, along with messages. “There’s been a lot of messages about being kind to your neighbors, about getting off technology and returning to the everyday beauty of life inside of community,” Barnard said.

Before the first billboard artwork goes up, Barnard hopes to hold workshops with local organizations and is working on site assessment, fabrication, fundraising and partnerships. The goal is early 2027.

The long-term plan is to feature a different Sunset Park artist each year. “My hope is that we can take a piece of long-dormant infrastructure, a billboard, and turn it into a piece of public space,” Barnard said.

Readers can sign up for Sky Public updates or follow Barnard’s newsletter.