A Bridge of a Different Color: Probing NYC's Public Works Palette

Deep Cool Red or Pulaski Red? Munsell Gray or George Washington Bridge Gray? Such are the decisions faced by the 11 members of New York City’s Public Design Commission. Established in 1898 as the Art Commission, the design review agency is composed of an architect (at present, James Stewart Polshek), a landscape architect (Signe Nielsen), a painter (Byron Kim), a sculptor (Alice Aycock), and three lay members (James Stuckey, Guy Nordenson, and Pentagram’s Paula Scher), all of whom are nominated by the Fine Arts Federation and appointed by the Mayor.