Artist and architect Maya Lin and her husband, art dealer and collector Daniel Wolf, have set out to transform the Yonkers City Jail into a space for artists. The jail, which closed in September, was put on the market for $2.5 million by the city. The City Council should approve the sale by December.
Wolf plans to use the 10,000-square-foot jail to display his impressive art collection. It will also include space for art exhibitions, performances, lectures, photo shoots, and public events.
“This prime waterfront real estate in the heart of our vibrant downtown area was no place for a jail, but it’s an ideal location for an international art collection like that of Daniel Wolf,” Mayor Mike Spano told The Journal News.
This isn't Lin's first project in Yonkers. The artist, who is most famous for designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, also designed a bakery in Yonkers and completed renovations on the Holladay Stone Chapel at Manhattanville College.
“The jail offers enormous potential but the breathtaking view of the Palisades from the doorstep of the Hudson inspires a vision as unique and beautiful as the building itself,” Lin told The Journal News.
RELATED: Maya Lin's Sculptural Exhibition Maps Out the World's Diminishing Watersheds
[via The Journal News]
