3. Beyond Metamorphosis, Victor Matthews (2004)

In 2004, artist Victor Matthews constructed an installation inhabiting The Battery’s three-acre park for  Art in the Parks.

Beyond Metamorphosis consisted of nearly 3,000 umbrellas, each hand painted with an individual monarch butterfly. The grid of umbrellas created an impression of a migrating kaleidoscope of butterflies, and according to the artist, was used to “explore themes of transformation, migration, and regeneration.”

The piece was only available for approximately two weeks in the summer of 2004, between June 7 and June 20, but remains one of the most beautiful exhibits from the “Art in the Parks” program.