Tomashi Jackson Button

Drawing on research for her work on view in the 2019 Biennial, Tomashi Jackson convenes this conversation about the long history of displacement and gentrification in New York City. Jackson's project examines the destruction of Seneca Village, a free Black community that was razed in the 1850s for the creation of Central Park. The artist draws a parallel between this history and contemporary practices of redevelopment that rely on the targeted dispossession of Black and Brown property owners through the Third Party Transfer Program.

These buttons by Tomashi Jackson are souvenirs of the creative process behind the artist's Third Party Transfer and the Making of Central Park (Seneca Village - Brooklyn 1853-2019). Created in a multitude of styles, they feature found images that together expose the long history of displacement and gentrification in New York City and fall into four distinct visual subjects:

The abolitionist heroes Mary Joseph Lyons, Albro Lyons, Arturo Schomburg, and Thurgood Marshall

Headlines from the "City Real Estate Scandal" series by journalism team Kelly Mena, Stephen Witt, and Tsubasa Berg from Kings County Politics

Partial images of condemnation maps that record the property ownership of Seneca Village before it was emptied and demolished

Fractured images of black and white drawings of the future Central Park

Please Note: Buttons sold separately and selection will be random based on availability.