Kearny Point— a creative office campus home to 200+ small businesses in Kearny, N.J.— has commissioned artist couple Eve Biddle and Josh Frankel to create three 48 foot wide digital billboards applauding our essential workers.

“We are completely inspired by the bravery of essential workers every day,” say artists Eve Biddle and Joshua Frankel. “We all literally owe them our lives – even more so in this unusual time. We worked with our friend, Frances, to create this image—a riff on the iconic Rosie the Riveter. Frances is a Doctor of Physical Therapy at NYU Langone Medical Center, and is working tirelessly to help patients receive rehab for COVID while in quarantine herself. She set up a camera in her apartment with her phone right next to it, FaceTiming with her sister, who art directed the shoot remotely. We create the image based on that photograph. Wendy Neu and the Kearny Point team are setting an incredible example, forgoing advertising revenue on their billboard to put forward art, culture, and gratitude. They are fantastic to work with.”

The billboard images (visible from Truck Route 1/9 between Newark and Jersey City, here) include an updated take on the iconic Rosie the Riveter. In this version, Rosie is modeled on a woman named Frances — a Doctor of Physical Therapy at NYU Langone Medical Center. She represents one of the thousands of brave individuals working tirelessly to help those affected by the ongoing pandemic.

About the artists

Eve Biddle

Eve is an artist, culture maker, and collaborator. Her work lies at the intersection of making objects, making connections between people, curating, building projects and institutions, helping to bring other artist’s art into the world, and making and facilitating public art. She’s a founding co-director of the Wassaic Project, home to a year-round artist residency program, art exhibitions, music festivals, and art education programs for kids, teens, and adults.

Joshua Frankel

Joshua Frankel is a visual artist working in a range of old and new media, including drawing, printmaking, animation and opera. He grew up in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City in a building filled with musicians, actors and dancers, and spent most of his youth listening to hip-hop and trying not to let anyone take his lunch money.

His animated films have been screened by presenters including the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the London Institute of Contemporary Art, the New Museum, the Annecy International Festival of Animation, Animation Block Party, EMPAC, Wassaic Project, the UN World Urban Forum, and in a shipping container in Berlin. He has received awards from institutions including the Graham Foundation, the Jerome Foundation and the Architecture Film Festival of Lund.