Must-See Public Art Installations in NYC, September 2024

Herds of elephants, over 100,000 flowers, meditation machines, and more fascinating art installations are coming to New York City this month! Whether you’re walking the High Line, taking in views of the Manhattan Bridge in DUMBO, or strolling the cobblestone streets of Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, you’re likely to run into one of these exicing new works.

1. Multiple Works, High Line

A new billboard will appear on the High Line at 18th Street on September 3rd. The giant sign created by artist Glenn Ligon is an altered image of a neon piece he created back in 2008. In revisiting a piece originally created during an election year (the year Obama won), Ligon examines the shift in America’s political climate and culture as we face another presidential election. In this new iteration, Ligon has taken a photo of the neon work and added thick black X’s over some of the letters in “America.” The only unaltered letters that show through spell “Me.” By manipulating the image this way, Ligon calls attention to the self-focused tendencies of today’s society and inspires viewers to contemplate the complex relationship between our nation and ourselves.

Also debuting on the High Line this month are a towering sculpture by Arthur Simms and a film by Alicia Mersy. A Totem for the High Line stretches toward the sky in the Northern Spur Preserve at 16th Street. The foundation of the piece is a decommissioned utility pole found on Randall’s Island. Atop the pole, Simms has affixed an amalgamation of found objects like cables and discarded license plates from various states. These items are weaved together with rope, twine, wood, and personal effects that belonged to the artist. Bound together, this collection represents the shared and disparate histories of New York and the everchanging stories locals and visitors are continually writing.

Mersy’s film, NYC WISDOM, premieres September 10 at 6:30pm on the High Line at 14th Street. In the film, viewers follow an animated butterfly drone as it flies through the streets of the city in search of “teachers” who impart bits of wisdom about life in New York. These teachers are shopkeepers, street performers, and pedestrians on the sidewalk, each with a unique piece of advice or obseervation to share.

2. TOVAR The Chair, Times Square

A new monumental installation by the late Dominican artist Iván Tovar is coming to Times Square on September 15th. Standing 13 feet tall,TOVAR The Chair is a large-scale version of Tovar’s earlier work, La Chaise Adulte (The Adult Chair). The installation of this surrealist, stainless steel sculpture coincides with the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month and calls attention to the 800,000 Dominicans living in the New York region. A 50-foot screen-printed timeline chronicling Tovar’s inspiring career will accompany the sculpture. TOVAR The Chair will sit in Broadway Plaza between 45th and 46th Streets and 7th Avenue until November 15, 2024.

3. The Great Elephant Migration, Meatpacking District

A herd of 100 Indian elephant sculptures will descend upon the Meatpacking District on September 6th! The arrival of The Great Elephant Migration marks the largest installation to come to New York City since Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s The Gates in 2005. The herd started its journey in Newport, Rhode Island and after New York, it will travel to Miami, Blackfeet Nation, Buffalo Pastures in Browning, Montana, and Los Angeles. As the installation moves across the country in electric trucks adorned with Indian lorry art, it will bring awareness to the relationship between humans and animals and raise funds for organizations supporting that coexistence such as local groups like New York City’s Wild Bird Fund, INDIGENOUS LED, and Lion Guardians.

All of the elephants were crafted by Coexistence Collective, a community of 200 Indigenous artisans living within India’s Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The sculptural herd is based on the elephants that India’s Soligas, Bettakurumbas, Kattunayakan, and Paniyas tribes live amongst. Every elephant is unique.

4. Multiple Works by Shantell Martin, Rockefeller Center

The Rockefeller Center campus will soon be covered in large-scale line drawings by British-American artist Shantell Martin. The multi-site installation, presented in partnership with the Art Production Fund, brings a 125-foot mural to the Rink Level of 45 Rockefeller Plaza. The mural contains illustrations from Martin’s KOOBs series (“books” backward). Inside a vitrine in the lobby of 45 Rockefeller Plaza, those illustrations become 3-D objects. When unfolded, the accordion-style “koobs” stretch seven feet long and tell the creation story of Martin’s imaginary world. You can also see a curated selection of works by Martin in the lobbies of 10 Rockefeller Plaza, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, and at the exclusive employee-only rooftop garden, Radio Park.

Martin will fill more empty spaces on the campus with works created right in front of your eyes. On September 7th, the artist will live-draw during an Art Sundae children’s workshop. Kids can create their own works of art on recycled bottles and be part of the installation!

5. Graft, Central Park

Edra Soto debuts her first large-scale public art commission in New York City on September 5th at Doris C. Freedman Plaza. Titled Graft, the sculptural installation is part of an ongoing series based on rejas, wrought iron screens frequently seen outside lower and middle-class homes in Puerto Rico. Soto was born in Puerto Rico and currently lives in Chicago. For her New York installation, Soto has created an inviting domestic scene out of red terrazzo concrete and corten steel. Three tables with seats beckon passersby to take a rest.

Patterns on the rejas cast playful shadows of Caribbean palm leaves and other imagery sourced from Yoruba
symbols of West Africa, a prominent influence on Puerto Rican design. By combining these symbols of her birthplace with the bustling scenes of New York, Soto “reflects on themes of migration, displacement, and the search for belonging.”

6. Morningside Lights

You can help create a dazzling light display this month as the annual Morningside Lights parade returns to celebrate “100 Years of New York Art.” Ahead of the grand illuminated parade on Saturday, September 21st at 8 PM, New Yorkers can help create the glowing handmade lanterns in a lantern-building workshop. The workshops will run from September 14th through 20th at the Miller Theatre at Columbia University (116th St. and Broadway). Interested participants can register here!

This year’s theme, In Retrospect, “celebrates how a century of New York art has shaped our image of where and how we live.” Every year, the theme and design are created by co-founders of the event Processional Arts Workshop, a non-profit ensemble dedicated to site-specific, community-built, human-powered performances. On September 21st, the luminescent parade will travel from the heart of Morningside Park, up Morningside Drive, to the Columbia campus. Participants and spectators are welcome to join anywhere along the roughly one-mile route.

7. Flower Market, Four Freedoms Park

100,000 plush flowers crafted by artist CJ Hendry will take over Four Freedoms Park from September 13-15! This immersive floral exhibition, Flower Market, is housed within a greenhouse built on the park’s lawn. Colorful florals inside were inspired by the Roosevelt family: the yellow Eleanor Roosevelt Rose, Tulips for the Roosevelt family’s Dutch heritage, red roses symbolizing the Roosevelt name, and Peonies, a signature flower of the family’s farm. Twelve original drawings by Hendry accompany the blossoming meadow. Visitors are encouraged to pluck their own flowers from the garden to take home. This exhibition is free and open to the public from 10am to 4pm on September 13 to 15.

8. Six Foot Platform, DUMBO

With the arrival of The Six Foot Platform, Washington Street in DUMBO will transform into an epicenter of performance art. Presented by The Dumbo Improvement District and Brooklyn Arts Council, the platform will host full-day immersive performances by six Brooklyn-based artists. Expect a “meditative live wood carving musical exploration,” poetry, a self-playing organ, and more! These performances can be seen every Saturday between 12:00 to 6:00 PM, from September 7 to October 12.

9. Bobby Anspach: The Beautiful Nothing, Meatpacking District

Looking for a moment to meditate? You can find it at 38 Little West 12th Street where two of the late artist Bobby Anspach’s sculptures will be on view. Anspach’s sculptures are immersive sound, light, and motion machines that you can lay inside of. They were “created with the aim of healing the world by expanding human awareness.” The machines will be on view alongside a series of drawings and paintings at the Meatpacking District location. Experience the machines firsthand from September 19th through November 10th on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12:00 until 6:00pm. The space is free and open to the public, but appointments are suggested. You can book your time here. One of Anspach’s machines will also be on view at the Spring Break Art Show during Armory Week September 4th through 9th.

10. R.O.S.E, Park Ave Armory

The line between spectator and performer is blurred at R.O.S.E, an immersive dance experience that will turn Park Ave Armory’s drill hall into a nightclub. From September 5th through 12th, the hall will be filled with the energizing sounds of DJ Ben UFO and dancers choreographed by award-winning choreographer Sharon Eyal. Eyal, her creative partner Gai Behar—an imaginative innovator of the underground club scene—and Caius Pawson of London-based multi-arts organization Young, have come together to create a performance that “celebrates the freedom, energy, and intimacy that run through the best of club culture and modern dance.” New Yorkers ready to dance the night away and see boundary-pushing choreography can purchase tickets here.

11. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail, The New York Botanical Garden

Spooky season is just around the corner and the New York Botanical Garden is ready to celebrate. On Friday, September 27th, Tim Burton’s beloved film The Nightmare Before Christmas, comes to life along a Light Trail through the garden. Jack Skellington, Sally, Zero, and more memorable characters appear along a trail illuminated by 8,300 square feet of dazzling light installations. With cutting-edge technology including interactive video projection, intelligent LED lighting, and 3D-printed sculptures, participants will be transported to Halloween Town. Tickets are on sale now for this limited engagement which runs through November 30th.

12. Tumbados, Nolita

A new mural on the facade of Storefront for Art and Architecture celebrates the history and aesthetic of lowriders. Lowriders are cars with dropped suspensions, often painted with intricate and colorful designs. They gained popularity in 1940s Southern California and have since become an integral part of Chicanx culture. Tumbados, the colorful mural created by Los Angeles artist Guadalupe Rosales with Dallas artist Lokey Calderon, “queers, rescales, and recontextualizes the aesthetics of this Chicanx art form, challenging its criminalization and creating a space for collective reclamation and celebration.”

13. The Map: Untying the Knots, Irish Arts Center

A medieval map and the story of Mary Magdalene inspired the giant textile sculpture on view at Irish Arts Center’s JL Greene Theatre. Crafted by artists Alice Maher and Rachel Fallon, The Map: Untying the Knots is a two-part exhibition. One piece is the 21’ x 15’ textile sculpture installation inspired by the Mappa Mundi. In Maher and Fallon’s version, this hand-embroidered and painted map explores the life, legacy, and mythology of Mary Magdalene and her impact on women’s lives.The Map is on view from September 6 through September 29th. Throughout the rest of the building, visitors will see site-specific drawings, murals, and textiles, on view in the building-wide installation Untying the Knots. These works will be on view from September 6 through January 15.

14.  Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity, Harlem Art Park to Madison Square Park

Show your solidarity with fellow New Yorkers by participating in a walk from Harlem Art Park down to Madison Square Park on the mornings of September 7th and 20th. Conceived by artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Procession of Angels for Radical Love and Unity will highlight seven stops throughout Manhattan that were historically filled with agency, optimism, or trauma. Some of those stops include the Dos Alas (Two Wings) mural dedicated to revolutionaries Ernesto Che Guevara and Pedro Albizu Campos, the former site of the Colored Orphan Asylum, and a monument to independence leader José Julián Martí. Stops will include poetry readings and the procession on September 7th will end with an artmaking workshop, while the procession on September 20 will end with musical performances. Anyone who wants to participate is encouraged to register here. “

15. Multiple Works, Brooklyn Navy Yard

Buildings 77 and 92 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard are currently home to two unique installations. At Building 77, visitors will find Hedgework by Marek Walczak (Civic Space LLC), Mark Shepard (Center for Architecture and Situated Technologies), and Antonina Simeti (Timbre Consultants). This outdoor piece is a sentient hedgerow made up of native plants, environmental sensors, and materials such as sand, stone, and solar panels sourced straight from companies in the Yard. Visitors can interact with the piece by sitting among the plants and by scanning a QR code which will provide information about the habitat and the Brooklyn Navy Yard with AI technology. On September 19th, co-creator Mark Shepard will host an Eco Data Workshop where you’ll learn about the data collected by the hedge, how to document and interpret the data, and how to use data for various purposes from policymaking to art. Book your ticket here!

Steven and William Ladd’s Transforming America through Art: A Vision for Brooklyn’s Community at Building 92 was created with input from Brooklynites. Locals responded to the prompt, “What one word describes your hopes for the future?” The installation displays answers to this question along with photographic reproductions of collaborative textile artwork created by the Ladds over the past ten years. On September 17th, you can join the Ladd brothers for a free artmaking workshop and tour at the Navy Yard. Your contribution will become part of a community art project on view in the exhibition! These sessions are designed for industry professionals working at and around the Brooklyn Navy Yard and are open to anyone who is 18 years or older. This Brooklyn installation is part of a larger project called Scrollathon which will be on view at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as part of a 250th anniversary celebration of the United States’ founding.

Next, check out exclusive Insider-only events happening in September!