June 2015–Jan 2016
Early in her tenure at the Queens Museum, Raicovich initiated a series of major commissions for the large wall at the center of the museum’s atrium that envelops the Panorama of the City of New York, a beloved historical model of New York City’s five boroughs. Given the scale of the wall as well as its visibility from the Flushing Meadows Corona Park and its centrality at the museum, Raicovich determined this space should feature women artists, whose work is under-represented in major public commissions. Each commission would be installed for one year; the first was created by Mickalene Thomas, tracing geographies she encountered throughout the boroughs and overlaid by a pattern that is reminiscent of both an iconic print from one of her mother’s dresses and the ubiquitous chain link fencing found in nearly all urban landscapes. This commission was followed by others including, Mariam Ghani, Anna K.E., and Mierle Laderman Ukeles.