Wednesday, August 17, 2022 – ALL KINDS OF FUN THINGS TO SEE IN THE CITY

By admin

WEDNESDAY,  AUGUST 17,  2022

756th Issue

THE  BEST PUBLIC ART INSTALLATIONS IN NYC TO SEE IN AUGUST 2022

UNTAPPED NEW YORK

This summer and fall, Thomas Paine Park will host artist Jaime Miranda-Bambarén’s sculpture installation Seeds (13 Moons). Situated in front of courthouses and the Jacob Javits Federal Building are 13 wooden seed sculptures. Interactive in nature, the sculptures invite their viewers to explore their unique crevices with every part of their body.

Raised_The Floating Playground. Courtesy of Eirini Linardaki. Located at Owl’s Head Park is Eirini Linardaki’s faux-marble sculpture, Raised_The Floating Playground. Through her art, Linardaki brings memories of her childhood to life, creating works that represent lived experiences and feelings that are both unique to her own life and universal in nature as a means of addressing the human condition. Splitting her life between the Grecian island Crete and the New York island Manhattan, Lindarki uses rafts as a metaphorical vehicle to encourage viewers to find new meaning in their everyday lives while also remaining true to their roots. Created in collaboration with the Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Culture and Sports, The Red Sand Project, and SHIM Art Network, Raised_The Floating Playground reflects on migration by sea over the last century and the inherent nomadic disposition of humanity. The sculpture draws inspiration from Owl Head Park’s position overseeing the New York Bay with its design featuring an assemblage of ambiguous objects ranging from handmade rafts to playground toys. Raised_The Floating Playground can be viewed through April 15, 2023.

Wall of Silence. Photo by Mark Peterson.

Photographer Donna Ferrato, alongside steel fabricator Amanda Willshire and architect Margie Soo Lee, created the sculpture Wall of Silence as a platform to bring awareness to the realities of gender-based violence while simultaneously encouraging viewers to reflect on how they can stand up for individuals who are criminalized for defending themselves against their abusers. The sculpture is strategically situated inside Collect Pond Park, located south of Canal Street between the New York County Family Court and the Criminal Court Building. In having placed the sculpture here, the artists prompt viewers to consider which individuals American institutions were built to protect and who they continue to serve to this day. 

Collect Pond Park also encapsulates the feminine spirit in its location: it is nestled among streets where early suffragettes, such as Sojourner Truth, once strolled. Given this characteristic of the public art installation, Wall of Silence can also be viewed as a symbol of the power women and gender-nonconforming people have in mobilizing to enact change within systems of oppression. The art installation was made possible by the support and collaboration of the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence. Wall of Silence will be on display through November 20, 2023. 

Wall of Silence. Photo by Mark Peterson.

Photographer Donna Ferrato, alongside steel fabricator Amanda Willshire and architect Margie Soo Lee, created the sculpture Wall of Silence as a platform to bring awareness to the realities of gender-based violence while simultaneously encouraging viewers to reflect on how they can stand up for individuals who are criminalized for defending themselves against their abusers. The sculpture is strategically situated inside Collect Pond Park, located south of Canal Street between the New York County Family Court and the Criminal Court Building. In having placed the sculpture here, the artists prompt viewers to consider which individuals American institutions were built to protect and who they continue to serve to this day. 

Collect Pond Park also encapsulates the feminine spirit in its location: it is nestled among streets where early suffragettes, such as Sojourner Truth, once strolled. Given this characteristic of the public art installation, Wall of Silence can also be viewed as a symbol of the power women and gender-nonconforming people have in mobilizing to enact change within systems of oppression. The art installation was made possible by the support and collaboration of the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence. Wall of Silence will be on display through November 20, 2023. 

Wanderlust. Courtesy of Norah Swartz. For the month of August, the Garment District Alliance will present Wanderlust, a public art exhibition featuring 18 mixed-media works created by Philadelphia-based high school student Norah Swartz. A rising senior at Springfield Township High School, Swartz specializes in mixed-media and 3D compositions including ceramics, sculpture, and glasswork. Her art has been previously exhibited at the Wharton Esherick print show.

Over the course of her junior year, Swartz created the pieces featured in Wanderlust, utilizing various mediums and materials such as glass, ink, glaze, and watercolor. At its core, Wanderlust represents the courage it takes to continue persevering in spite of life’s many hardships. Wanderlust also aims to show its viewers how positive influence from the right group of individuals can have the power to give people the support they need to pursue their dreams. The exhibition can be viewed in a street-level window at 215 West 38th Street until September 2, 2022.

Crochet mural of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Courtesy of Carmen Paulino. Hanging along the fence inside Cherry Tree Park is a crochet mural of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who on August 8, 2009, became the first Hispanic woman to serve in the position. Before ascending to the Supreme Court, Sotomayor also became the first Hispanic federal judge in New York State and the first Puerto Rican woman to serve as a judge in a U.S. federal court. As a tribute to Sotomayor’s historic legacy, artist Carmen Paulino created a crochet mural in her likeness.

The crochet mural is composed of crocheted contributions from over 100 artists from around the world ranging in age from 9 to 91 years old. In combining the efforts of so many people, the project represents the linking of distant communities together one stitch at a time. Besides Sotomayor’s mural, Paulino also creates crocheted artwork as the Hospital-Artist-In-Residence for The Creative Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the creative arts to people of all ages with cancer and other chronic illnesses. The crochet mural can be viewed until April 11, 2023.

Leaf, Boats, and Reflection. Courtesy of Yvonne Shortt.

Until June 17, 2023, MacDonald Park will host Leaf, Boats, and Reflection, a public sculpture created in remembrance of those who have lost loved ones to COVID-related deaths. To create the sculpture, artist Yvonne Shortt, known for other public artworks such as Pavillion Landing and Rigged?, worked in collaboration with artists Mayuko Fujino and Joel Esquite.

Leaf, Boats, and Reflection’s pond is made from a mirrored acrylic pane that reflects the sky above and the individuals looking down to examine its contents. Situated inside the pond is the sculpture of a woman’s head, looking up to the sky with her eyes closed in silent contemplation and prayer. Surrounding the head are various white boats holding candles, serving as a vigil for the dead. Stories collected from the local community by RPGA Studios inspired the ceramic relief tiles attached to the concrete border of the sculpture’s reflection pond. Overall, Leaf, Boats, and Reflection serves as a space for community members to place flowers and silent notes in the hopes of reaching out to lost loved ones.

WEDNESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

SEND YOU RESPONSE TO ROOSEVELTISLANDHISTORY@GMAIL.COM
IF BOUNCED-BACK SEND TO JBIRD134@AOL.COM

TUESDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

THE CABIN THAT TYPHOID MARY LIVED IN ON NORTH BROTHR ISLAND
LAURA HUSSEY GOT IT

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island
Historical Society unless otherwise indicated:

UNTAPPED NEW YORK

RIHS (C) FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD

Copyright © 2022 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com