CYNTHIA BROWN

 

 

 

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Hard Beauty is an exploration by fine artist Cynthia Brown that brings attention to the often-overlooked infrastructure of urban life. With a painter’s precision and a deep curiosity for hidden systems, Brown uncovers unexpected beauty in the machinery and labor that keep New York City running—sanitation, waterworks, and parks. Through richly layered paintings and thoughtful historical context, the exhibition reimagines the city’s essential services not as background noise, but as feats of engineering, human effort, and quiet dignity.

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The journey begins with a 19th-century reformer whose visionary efforts established the groundwork for the modern waste management infrastructure we continue to depend on today. Brown's work honors the enduring legacy of this figure while illuminating the complex choreography of people and machines behind our clean water, green spaces, and functioning streets.

 

Hard Beauty invites viewers to shift their perspective—away from passive spectatorship and toward active engagement with the urban systems that shape daily life. By revealing the beauty in what’s often hidden in plain sight, the exhibition challenges us to recognize our own role in the care, maintenance, and future of the cities we inhabit.

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An exhibition in 2026 is in the planning phase.

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Hard Beauty is a sponsored project of the New York Foundation for the Arts.

 

• ​Tax deductible donations can be made to Hard Beauty through the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA.org).  From their home page, click on donate to NYFA, then click on Fiscally Sponsored Projects and select Hard Beauty to ensure your donation is directed specifically to this project.

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Hard Beauty is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

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