Yazmany Arboleda

Visual Description: A square geometric abstract painting on a wood panel featuring overlapping shapes in shades of red, pink, white, and blue.

Descripción Visual: Una pintura abstracta geométrica cuadrada en un panel de madera que presenta formas superpuestas en tonos de rojo, rosa, blanco y azul.

About

Yazmany Arboleda (b. 1981, Colombian-American) is New York City's inaugural People's Artist at the Civic Engagement Commission. An architect by training, Yazmany activates communities with large-scale art projects that seek to build heartfelt connections that lead to meaningful relationships. He believes that art is a verb, not a noun. Over the past two decades, he has created public art projects with communities in India, Japan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Afghanistan, Spain, Colombia, and the United States. He has collaborated with Carnegie Hall (NY), the Yale School of Management (CT), and the United Nations. He is a co-founder of limeSHIFT, the Future Historical Society, Remember 2019, and the Artist As Citizen Conference. He is currently the Senior Artistic Advisor for the Community Arts Network. Arboleda is also the artist who led The People's Bus. Formerly utilized to transport individuals detained on Rikers Island, it has undergone a transformation in collaboration with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Mujeres en Movimiento. This metamorphosis, shaped with input from New Yorkers, has turned the bus into a mobile community center, designed to engage people in NYC's civic life through beauty and joy. Described by Arboleda as a "gymnasium for the human imagination," The People's Bus serves as a shared space for exercising creativity and envisioning a future where all New Yorkers care for each other. It aims to establish a storytelling tradition that places the heart at the center. Collaborating with The Clemente, Materials for the Arts, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Queens Museum, and partnering with Territorial Empathy and Mujeres en Movimiento, The People's Bus is set to contribute to the cultural landscape of the city.