Outdoor Art in NYC
Who says you have to go to a museum to see amazing art all throughout NYC. New York City is full of free outdoor art consisting of sculptures, murals, and photographs found in parks, sidewalks and on buildings. Locations such as the High Line, Central Park, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn, Queens, and other NYC locales all have a large variety of art pieces waiting to be admired. This can range from massive sculptures to eye-popping murals and graffiti.
Check out the Kneeler found in the heart of Midtown on Broadway between 39th and 40th. It evokes a spirit of harmony and optimism.
Street Swimmers plunge into Park Avenue. World-renowned artist, Carole A Feuerman created monumental swimmers tat are between 34th and 38th Streets in the Murray Hill neighborhood of New York City. The installation is being led by Patrons of Park Avenue.
Located on the Upper East Side there are dazzling chandelier sculptures made from recycled plastic water bottles.
Now on view in City Hall Park in Manhattan’s Financial District, there is a gigantic playful sculpture called “PRANK”, intended to be comical, the concept invites passerby to discuss their questions about play, work, art, and life.
Nicholas Galanin’s “In every language there is LAND” is now on view at the Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn in Brooklyn Bridge Park through fall 2023.
There is also a new sculpture called “Old Tree” now on the Highline. The pink and red “Old Tree” sculpture stretches 25 feet into the sky. Its shaped like a realistic tree but constructed completely from man-made materials.
A new colorful floral installation called, “Montague Street Blooms” has bloomed in Brooklyn Heights . It is a 6-foot tall pop-up flower park installation, and thankfully the pop-up is pollen free!
“Sky’s the Limit in the County of Kings” is a new 9-foot-tall sculpture of Christopher Wallace in Dumbo at the entrance of the Brooklyn Bridge. You can find the new work at the northeast corner of Prospect Street and Washington Street. The stainless steel and bronze creation sought to both honor Biggie and challenge “the traditions of western public sculpture by representing his African American artistry, lineage, and evolution”.
While appreciating the greenspaces around NYC, do you ever think about the people who make those spaces so enjoyable? Artist Fanny Allie hopes to evoke this sense of appreciation through her new sculpture exhibition called “Shadows”. The mixed-media artist created 10 colorful sculptures inspired by the workers who maintain Bella Abzug Park. Allie spent time with each individual and asked them to pose in a manner that reflected themselves. She captured their poses on film, drew their outlines and translated them into steel silhouettes. The workers got to choose their sculpture’s color as well.
There is a new 18-foot tall painted bronze sculpture called “Ancestor” at the southeast entrance to Central Park. The colossal artwork depicts a universal mother figure linking out cultural and personal past and futures. The sculpture evokes a sense of belonging and celebrates mothers as the keeper of wisdom and the ternal source of creation and refuge.
Who says “The Bean” only has to be in Chicago. NYC’s rendition of the reflective masterpiece by Anish Kapoor can be found in Tribeca. It stands 19-feet tall, stretches 48 feet long, and weighs 40 tons!
Playfully representing the theme of the neighborhood it sits in, The Garment District, the newly unveiled “The Big Button” sculpture aims to tell the tale of the historic area. The pop art represents NYC’s fashion industry.
“Geo” is a 20-by10-foot colorful dome created by Hou de Sousa that popped up in the Financial District. Visitors can walk through this installation made of steel frames and 5+ miles worth of fluorescent paracords.
Located in Midtown, “Living Lantern” is a 14-foot tall illuminated lantern. It serves as a symbol of hope, brightness and guiding light among the busy city streets and is affected by the wind patterns which illuminate the installation’s animations in different ways.