Civic Action united artists, architects, and planners to address Long Island City’s challenges, including rapid growth, infrastructure needs, and environmental resilience. Anchored by the Noguchi Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park, the project became a platform for ideas that balance cultural identity with development. WXY guided the strategy, integrating policy, art, and design into proposals for livability and sustainability.

Long Island City faced, and continues to face, mounting pressures, including overstressed infrastructure, limited public transportation, and shrinking public spaces. As development initially accelerated in the area, the Noguchi Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park set out to protect its cultural identity and environmental character and help it remain connected, livable, and equitable.

WXY created a framework for four artist-led teams to explore artistic, environmental, and policy-based strategies for Long Island City. Their proposals addressed infrastructure gaps, improved wayfinding, and reimagined land use through site-specific installations and models. Under the creative direction of WXY’s Yeju Choi, the project’s exhibition design, website, and publications tied these concepts together, transforming ideas into a cohesive vision.

WXY brought together artists, planners, architects, and scientists to weave diverse perspectives into unified solutions. The Noguchi Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park offered both physical space and creative support, enabling teams to turn challenges into opportunities and redefining how cultural institutions can guide urban change through creativity and strategy.

Civic Action ignited a vital conversation about art’s role in urban transformation. The project showcased how cultural anchors like Noguchi and Socrates can lead innovative responses to change while strengthening community identity.