A 30-foot-tall neon Buckyball in the sky, a familiar statue from a whole new vantage, mischievous bronze figures on the 14th Street A, C, E subway platform—public art works are a reason to visit New York for some, and welcomed flourishes to an everyday route for others. To either audience, public art encourages new ideas, conversation and change the way a city is perceived.
Below are installations—both temporary and permanent—that will take your walk in a different direction.
Manhattan
Ongoing
The memorial honors the estimated 15,000 enslaved and free Africans who were interred here during the 17th and 18th centuries. Visitors to the monument learn about the harsh living conditions under which African-Americans toiled, the customs they added to our culture and the many contributions they made to colonial America.
Time spent outdoors with works of public art encourages new ideas, conversations and a welcomed flourish to an otherwise ordinary route. Take a detour on your next commute to visit one of these nearby pieces.
Ongoing
Sculptor Mark di Suvero's 70-foot-high Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life) resides in Lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park.
Manhattan
Ongoing
at 128th Street and Second Avenue
Ongoing
The Pieces for Peace Mosaic stretches 213 feet (65 meters) and incorporates works of art submitted by youth from all over the globe.
Isamu Noguchi's sculpture was installed in Lower Manhattan in 1968. The diagonal lines of red painted steel stand in contrast to the stark horizontal and vertical lines of the adjacent Marine Midland Building.
Manhattan
Ongoing
The artist transforms a semi-enclosed loading dock's existing casement windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a single day.
Time spent outdoors with works of public art encourages new ideas, conversations and a welcomed flourish to an otherwise ordinary route. Take a detour on your next commute to visit one of these nearby pieces.
Harlem River Drive from East 131st Street to West 145th Street / West 155th Street to Dyckman Street
new york N.Y. 10032
at 128th Street and Second Avenue
Corner of Duane and Elk Streets
New York N.Y. 11211
2126372019
The memorial honors the estimated 15,000 enslaved and free Africans who were interred here during the 17th and 18th centuries. Visitors to the monument learn about the harsh living conditions under which African-Americans toiled, the customs they added to our culture and the many contributions they made to colonial America.
Liberty Street
New York N.Y. 10045
Sculptor Mark di Suvero's 70-foot-high Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life) resides in Lower Manhattan's Zuccotti Park.
Between Gansevoort and West 20th Streets
New York N.Y. 10011
2125006035
The artist transforms a semi-enclosed loading dock's existing casement windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a single day.
