PELHAM, NY.- Pelham Art Center debuts a new public art exhibition taking place at Wolfs Lane Park and the Art Center on Fifth Avenue, Pelham. The exhibition consists of site-specific installations by artists Melissa Maddonni Haims and Niki Lederer.

Melissa Maddonni Haims is the artist reponsible for “Yarn Bombing” Wolfs Lane Park. Also known as knit grafitti, yarn bombing is a type of street art made of knit and crocheted yarn. Maddonni Haims’ colorful soft sculpture in Wolfs Lane Park encourages visitors to experience nature and art.

Sculpture by Niki Lederer is on view in Wolfs Lane Park and at the Pelham Art Center. Niki Lederer reclaims discarded plastic containers to create her installations. Playful compositions built from dissected and reassembled plastic bottles draw attention back to the objects. Niki’s public artwork takes a humorous approach to the futility of mass consumption by inviting viewers to notice the beauty of the discards.

Both artists in the summer-fall exhibition will participate in ArtsFest on Saturday, October 5, 2019 at the Pelham Art Center.

Saturday, October 5th 10AM-2PM: Melissa Maddonni Haims will create a large collaborative yarn piece with the community. Participants are invited to come build this custom installation in the Pelham Art Center Courtyard. Bring a knitted or crochet 10″ x 20″ rectangle of any color or style. Any yarn will do, but remember: natural fibers will fade.

Saturday, October 5th 11AM-3PM, Niki Lederer will lead community members in a collaborative project in conjunction with Pelham Reads. Inspired by the 2019 book selection Hidden Figures, Niki invites attendees of this ArtsFest event to create a “spacecraft” out of their own recycled material. Participants should bring their own cleaned out plastic bottles to build something.

In 2012, the Pelham Art Center opened the first public art installation in its outdoor courtyard. In 2017, the Public Art program expands to Wolf’s Lane Park, as an extension of the Pelham Art enter mission to provide free access to artwork for all.

Niki Lederer was born in London, Ontario and raised in Vancouver. She received her BFA from the University of Victoria and her MFA from Hunter College in New York City. Her artwork has been shown at many venues including the 1285 Ave of the Americas Gallery, ILLE Arts, White Columns, Bronx Museum of the Arts, Gallery Aferro, and the Internationale Sonderausstellung, Künstlerhaus Dosenfabrik, (Germany). Solo exhibitions include the Art Gallery of Ontario (Canada), Rogue Gallery and Open Space in Victoria, B.C. as well as Washington Square Windows, NYU. Niki’s work has been reviewed in The Brooklyn Rail, The Globe and Mail and The New York Times, among others. Most recently her sculpture was published in Die Verschränkung von Kunst und Nachhaltigkeit, (Wabl, Ans), as one of five featured artists exploring art and sustainability. Niki was selected to participate in the 9th Annual Governors Island Art Fair as well as the Outdoor Sculpture Biennial at Adelphi University in Garden City, NY. She currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is pleased to share her site-specific sculpture with the Pelham community this summer and fall.

Melissa Maddonni Haims is a sculptor based in Philadelphia who creates knit graffiti, soft sculpture, and large-scale installations using knitted and crocheted yarns. The majority of her work is produced using recycled, reclaimed and rescued textile materials. She attended East Coast art schools studying sculpture, painting and printmaking. Melissa has produced installations in nature preserves and arboretums throughout the East Coast.

Melissa’s work has been shown in galleries and museums and is held in private collections throughout the United States. In 2014 she was featured on an A&E network television program about artists who make work out of unusual materials. She has been yarn bombing internationally since 2010. Ms. Haims has been exhibiting at contemporary art fairs since 2011. During Art Basel Miami she was awarded the Tomorrow Stars prize at Verge Fair in 2011, and was invited to show public installations in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2015, she was nominated for the Pulse Prize at the Pulse Contemporary Art Fair in New York City during Armory Week. Recently she has been featured at SPRING/BREAK Art Show in New York and Spectrum Fair in Miami.