“You belong here/We belong here” (Barclays Center Plaza sign)
Two signs designed by artist Tavares Strachan were placed at the Barclays Center sports arena plaza, at Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn, in October 2021. “We belong here,” in pink, is on the front of the Barclays Center subway entrance, and “You belong here,” in white, is on the entrance’s rear.
The artwork was sponsored by the Joe and Clara Wu Tsai Foundation. (Joe Tsai is the owner of the Brooklyn Nets basketball team and of Barclays Center.) The plaza has been a gathering for protests, such as the 2020 George Floyd shooting protests and the October 2021 protests in support of Nets player Kyrie Irving and against vaccine mandates.
“Later this month Brooklyn is getting new neon signage at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic: ‘You Belong Here/We Belong Here,’ a public artwork by Tavares Strachan. It’s a charged message for the Barclays Center plaza, to say the least” was posted on Twitter by @kristoncapps on October 13, 2021. “New installation outside Barclays center ‘you belong here’ except the people who were displaced” was posted on Twitter by L Boogs on October 24, 2021.
Wikipedia: Barclays Center
Barclays Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liberty of the Women’s National Basketball Association. The arena also hosts concerts, conventions and other sporting and entertainment events.
Bloomberg CityLab
A Charged Message for Brooklyn, in Neon
The illuminated artwork designed by Tavares Strachan for the front of the Barclays Center reflects the changes that the borough has undergone since the arena opened a decade ago.
By Kriston Capps
October 13, 2021, 10:02 AM EDT Updated on October 18, 2021, 9:51 AM EDT
The text isn’t complicated, but the message thrums with meaning. Two neon signs, one pink and one white, are going up at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in Brooklyn, on the plaza outside the Barclays Center sports arena. “We belong here,” one declares. Its twin narrows the scope: “You belong here.”
An illumination designed by the artist Tavares Strachan, You Belong Here/We Belong Here might read like an expression of solidarity directed to the protesters who frequently gathered in Barclays Center plaza following the death of George Floyd in 2020. But it could also sound like a pointed rebuke to a different crowd: Years back, this site was the target of demonstrations against the construction of the Atlantic Yards development, which the arena anchors. In 2006, at least 2,000 people, including Brooklyn residents and actors Steve Buscemi and Rosie Perez, assembled to speak out against the housing displacement that this project threatened to bring.
Twitter
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@kristoncapps
Later this month Brooklyn is getting new neon signage at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic: “You Belong Here/We Belong Here,” a public artwork by Tavares Strachan.
It’s a charged message for the Barclays Center plaza, to say the least.
bloomberg.com
A Charged Message for Brooklyn, in Neon
The illuminated artwork designed by Tavares Strachan for the front of the Barclays Center reflects the changes that the borough has undergone since the arena opened a decade ago.
10:32 AM · Oct 13, 2021·Twitter Web App
Twitter
◥◤send ⊃∪∩⪽s
@kristoncapps
The owner of the Barclays Center is installing a new public artwork, “You Belong Here/We Belong Here,” on the site where crowds gathered organically during protests last summer.
But note that the developer hasn’t ruled out building over the plaza itself. https://bloom.bg/3DEoBl4
1:56 PM · Oct 13, 2021·Twitter Web App
NetsDaily
New illuminated art going up on Barclays Center plaza - ‘We belong here ... You belong here’
By Net Income Oct 14, 2021, 1:00pm EDT
In a recognition of how Barclays Center’s entrance plaza has become Brooklyn’s ad hoc town square, the Joe and Clara Wu Tsai Foundation is installing new illuminated art work emphasizing belonging on the plaza, Bloomberg reports.
(...)
“We belong here,” in pink will be installed on the front of the Barclays Center subway entrance, “You belong here,” in white on the entrance’s rear. The plaza has been the scene of a variety of protests and other gatherings starting with the 2020 demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. And that is the rationale for the artwork which will be roughly 45-by-18-feet.
Twitter
Norman Oder
@AYReport
Emerging context for “You belong here/We belong here” neon art installation
@barclayscenter
—ads for CBRE wrap transit entrance
—Barclays Center logo
—SeatGeek Plaza branding
—rotating advertising/messages in wraparound oculus & LED signage
vs decontextualized rendering
9:33 AM · Oct 18, 2021·Twitter Web App
Twitter
NetsDaily
@NetsDaily
Photo shows how Nets using Barclays Center subway entrance: the “You Belong Here”/ “We Belong Here” neon sculptures are up as well as Christie’s boards promoting two-day viewing of Jean Michel Basquiat portrait by Andy Warhol at Crown Club
Quote Tweet
Alec Sturm
@Alec_Sturm
· Oct 22
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2:19 PM · Oct 23, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
Twitter
Park Slope 5th Ave
@parkslope5thave
Attending the @barclayscenter unveiling of We Belong Here/You Belong Here art installation by the @joeclaratsaifoundation #parkslope #theother5th #socialjustice @ Barclays Center https://instagram.com/p/CVYxHP_vcHE/?utm_medium=twitter
5:55 PM · Oct 23, 2021 from Brooklyn, NY·Instagram
Twitter
L Boogs
@waterblocknyc
New installation outside Barclays center “you belong here” except the people who were displaced l
11:46 AM · Oct 24, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
ARTnews
In Brooklyn, Tavares Strachan’s New Public Artwork Questions What It Means to Belong
BY TESSA SOLOMON
October 25, 2021 4:52pm
This weekend, colossal neon letters were installed in the plaza of Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, a steel arena splitting the borough’s busiest streets. Those entering the arena will see the first half of the phrase (“You Belong Here”). Upon leaving the Barclays Center, visitors will see the second half (“We Belong Here”). Thousands pour through the Barclays subway station every day, some of whom invariably will meet the sentiment with a degree of skepticism. In a city with sky-high rents, and in a country grappling with its racist legacy, what does it mean to belong? The artist behind those neon letters, Tavares Strachan, counts on the viewer to ask that question.