The Story
This is not just a film about artists and their art; it's a story of resilience amid the social issues of our time, a testament to the power of community, and, above all, a celebration of the enduring power of art.
Following the boarding up of Soho, over 300 artists, from first-time painters to acclaimed professionals, embark on a transformative project: to paint murals of resilience and protest on the plywood boards that cover broken windows. Within two weeks, the once bustling shopping district morphs into an unplanned art museum, with every window and door covered in paintings.
This movement not only energizes the artists, many of whom are emerging from isolation, but also breathes new life into the community that birthed The Contemporary American Art Movement decades earlier.
Locals resurface to witness with gratitude their revived neighborhood, while an organized ring of thieves allegedly steals hundreds of paintings as quickly as they are created, which we suspect they are currently selling.
Within this expansive group of artists, five painters form the SoHo Renaissance Factory (SRF), bonded by their shared mission to heal NYC through art, preserve the boards for posterity, and reverence for SoHo’s history. Facing the economic instability of 2020, these artists’ lives become increasingly intertwined as they risk everything to beautify the streets.
Gaining attention from Sotheby's and the media, the SRF artists rise from obscurity with a solo exhibition at the prestigious National Arts Club, their work showcased on Soho's light pole banners, and a guest appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show. The ultimate validation comes from a trendy SoHo hotel, which provides them with a unique artist-in-residency that ends their housing struggles. They are given five hotel rooms to live in, the closed nightclub to be their new factory, and the creative freedom to re-signature the hotel's public spaces.
As the world regains its footing and normalcy trickles back in, SoHo reverts into a posh shopping district. SRF has to reformulate their identity and their mission amidst a post-pandemic world, one in which SoHo's upzoning process endangers the very cultural identity that had made the neighborhood a haven for artists for decades. Presently a legal battle to reclaim hundreds of stolen artworks is beginning, as are plans for major exhibitions of the art that was saved. Since many New Yorkers had left the city or were still isolating during the height of the movement, the plywood renaissance remains unknown to many.