Landscape of Lost Arts

Even in the 21st Century, key features of New York City's skyline are handmade. The ancient motto of the blacksmith, “By Hammer and Hand All Arts Do Stand,” still resonates, though much has changed since the city's master craftsmen adopted the motto for their association in 1785.

Landscape of Lost Arts refers to vanished structures and forgotten skills, also to a kind of historical blindness that occurs when we look at the buildings that grace the urban skyline. How often do we think about the skilled craftspeople who made these buildings? How much do we know about how they were built?

Images of iconic buildings, old and new, are easy to come by—images of people actually working on those buildings are much less common. We are pleased to offer here a sampling of images that document the work of union members and artisans building and re-building the landscape of the city.