Art in the Parks

In one of the world’s most Instagrammed places, filled with cameras of all shapes and sizes, Window to the Heart places the world’s largest lens in the center of Times Square. The 12 foot in diameter Fresnel lens was designed with 3D-printing manufacturer Formlabs to distort and capture the image of Times Square, optically bending light – and attention – to the heart-shaped window at its center. Visitors can look through the window or photograph themselves within it, completing the loop between the lens of the eye and the lens of the camera.

Rather than using the traditional lens-making methods of casting, cutting, and repeatedly polishing glass, Window to the Heart will leverage the latest advances in design, materials, and fabrication to craft something that was previously unattainable. Each lens segment is 3D-printed at a high resolution by Formlabs using clear resin, a material capable of the unique surface quality and clarity required by optical elements. With the lens made entirely from a 3D-printed material instead of glass, Window to the Heart upends the centuries-old methods of lens-making to invite individuals to reimagine how they see and photograph the world.

This project is presented by Times Square Alliance and Design Trust for Public Space.

The Broadway Mall Association celebrates its 30th anniversary with Joy Brown on Broadway, a sculpture exhibition of nine bronze works on the green malls at the center of Broadway from 72nd Street to 166th Street. The exhibition is the 10th sculpture show that the Broadway Mall Association has presented on the malls since 2005. Brown’s rounded forms and use of bronze convey the heavy gravity of stone. The playful expressions and gestures of her figures transcend that weight, suggesting warmth and lightness of being. Simplicity of form and earth-toned patina evoke a feeling of stillness and peace. The influence of the Japanese aesthetic on Brown’s sculpture springs from her childhood in Japan and apprenticeship in traditional Japanese ceramics.

This exhibition is presented by Broadway Mall Association and Morrison Gallery.

Ai Weiwei often visited Washington Square Park when he lived nearby in the 1980s, drawn to its vitality as a hub for creative and political expression. His 37-foot-tall steel cage echoes the iconic form of the marble arch, which commemorates George Washington leading the nation toward democracy. While seeming to create an obstruction, Ai opens a passageway through its center in the silhouette of two united figures. Visitors are able to pass through, reflected in an undulating ribbon of polished stainless steel.

This work is part of the citywide exhibition Good Fences Make Good Neighbors. Ai Weiwei conceived this multi-site, multi-media exhibition for public spaces, monuments, buildings, transportation sites, and advertising platforms throughout New York City. Collectively, these elements comprise a passionate response to the global migration crisis and a reflection on the profound social and political impulse to divide people from each other. Visitors will discover that Ai’s “good fences” are not impenetrable barriers but powerful, immersive, and resonant additions to the fabric of the city.

This exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund.

For the entrance to Central Park, Ai has created a giant gilded cage that simultaneously evokes the luxury of Fifth Avenue and the privations of confinement. Visitors are able to enter its central space, which is surrounded by bars and turnstiles. Functioning as a structure of both control and display, the work reveals the complex power dynamics of repressive architecture.

This work is part of the citywide exhibition Good Fences Make Good Neighbors. Ai Weiwei conceived this multi-site, multi-media exhibition for public spaces, monuments, buildings, transportation sites, and advertising platforms throughout New York City. Collectively, these elements comprise a passionate response to the global migration crisis and a reflection on the profound social and political impulse to divide people from each other. Visitors will discover that Ai’s “good fences” are not impenetrable barriers but powerful, immersive, and resonant additions to the fabric of the city.

This exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund.

Consisting of photographs taken in the neighborhood around Spring Street Park, this exhibition features the work of students from Chelsea Career & Technical Education High School. Magic Box Productions teaching artist Jon Appel and visiting artist Martin Crook worked closely with the senior students as a photography, documentary team on this project. Magic Box Productions addresses the growing need for exemplary media arts education in New York City’s public K-12 schools, particularly those serving disadvantaged students with limited access to art and technology. The images capture the unique aspects of history, commerce, architecture and other features of the Hudson Square neighborhood.

This exhibition is presented by Hudson Square Connection and Magic Box Productions.

Birdhouse Repo reflects on the effects of a constantly growing population alongside income disparities in one of the world’s fastest moving cities. This oversized birdhouse, which is boarded up and placed under foreclosure, sits in the heart of a neighborhood that is one of the most historical and notable examples of New York City’s gentrification and the real estate bubble. Simply put, the city has become so expensive that even the birds cannot afford to live here. This work is Aaron Schaeter’s first public sculpture exhibition.

This exhibition is presented by First Street Green.

The mural is presented by the Long Island City Partnership, Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement at Queensbridge Houses, and Creative Art Works. 

RPGA Studio, Inc. uses art as a tool to promote healthy lifestyles and engage the surrounding community of Captain Tilly Park. RPGA worked with parkgoers, including students from Ideal Montessori School and MS 358, to design this multi-component, parkwide exhibition. In addition flowers and umbrellas along the park’s entryway on Highland Avenue, visitors will find creative signage that encourages positive park usage and maintenance, as well as local flora and fauna. When surveyed what would encourage more people to visit the park, children frequently requested a dog—RPGA happily obliged placing a sculpture of Peppermint the pup on the park’s south end to greet people. The work is in 12 pieces and takes the viewer a little while to locate the perfect spot to view the piece. It draws additional inspiration from an eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa that artist Yvonne Shortt suffers from.

Art in the Parks: Active Open Space is a partnership between the NYC Parks and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, in collaboration with the Fund for Public Health in NYC and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to activate park space with health-inspired art installations that promote physical activity and strengthen community connections. Funding for this project was made possible by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

For Steinway Cypher, Baldwin merged contributions of the Steinway family with elements of present-day Astoria to create a piece that reflects the visual landscape of the neighborhood. In 1870 William Steinway began building a company town, Steinway Village in what is now known as Astoria. The Steinway Piano Factory was built on this land accompanied by employee housing, a church, a library, a kindergarten, and a public trolley line. Steinway also founded the resort town North Beach and spearheaded a project to extend his town’s trolley lines under the East River, which led to the creation of the current subway tunnel

A large, white piano-like shape positioned in the middle of the mural commemorates the industry titan. Aquatic and seashell forms are a nod to North Beach and the East River. Arrows highlight the progressive nature of Steinway’s ideas. Some of Baldwin’s other shapes are a response to the mosaics seen on Mombar, a restaurant in Astoria’s Little Egypt. Additional elements of commerce are sprinkled throughout to honor local businesses that find their home on Steinway Street.