By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
LOWER EAST SIDE — Don't expect to see this exhibition under gallery lights.
A series of metal roll-down gates along the Bowery have been transformed into works of art for the New Museum's "Festival of Ideas for the New City" kicking off Wednesday.
More than dozen of the Bowery's ubiquitous metal gates, long canvases for vandals and graffiti writers, were covered with large-scale paintings to coincide with the museum's downtown arts extravaganza running through this weekend.
The street-level show "After Hours: Murals on the Bowery," which stretches over 15 shutters between East Houston and Grand streets, was done with permission from store owners on the strip who volunteered their shops' security gates for use in the exhibition.
The project, presented by the New Museum and Art Production Fund, is one of the myriad of programs included in the "Festival of Ideas for the New City," which will convert the Bowery into an urban exhibition space and interactive arts workshop this Saturday.
More than 75 local organizations, small businesses and nonprofit groups will participate in the Saturday "StreetFest, which will also include cooking demonstrations, rooftop gardening classes, oral history projects and bike tours.
A central part of the daylong event will be colorful tents set up along the Bowery, called "The Worms," featuring various accordion-like sections 10 feet high and 20 feet long that connect to form flexible nylon tunnels along the street.
The festival kicks off Wednesday night with a keynote speech from architect Rem Koolhaas.
