New York's Public Art Scene

Taking a self-guided tour of public art is a great way to experience New York City outdoors and socially distant any time of year.

Artist Anish Kapoor’s Descension—a 26-foot-wide whirlpool—occupies a post-industrial site that stretches 1.3 miles along Brooklyn's East River edge. Descension is on view through September 10, 2017, from 9 am–9 pm at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 1. 

Concrete furniture and arches created by artist Liz Glynn sit in a cobblestone plaza in New York.
Liz Glynn: Open House | Courtesy of the artist and Paula Cooper Gallery | Photo: James Ewing, Courtesy of Public Art Fund, NY

Doris C. Freedman Plaza in Central Park (Fifth Avenue at 60th Street) has been transformed into an open-air ballroom, with concrete furniture and arches inspired by a lavish home that once stood in this very neighborhood. Liz Glynn’s Open House is on view until September 10, 2017.

A large aluminum sculpture of a blue orb featuring two large squids sits in the middle of City Hall Park in New York.
Katja Novitskova: Earth Potential | Courtesy the artist, Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin; and Greene Naftali, New York | Photo: Jason Wyche, Courtesy Public Art Fund, NY 

Seven large aluminum sculptures featuring images of the earth, celestial objects, and terrestrial organisms, have been scattered throughout City Hall Park by artist Katja Novitskova. The exhibition encourages the viewer to consider how technological development has impacted mankind’s perception of the natural world. Earth Potential is on view until November 9, 2017.

Two men stop to look at a miniature forest in New York created by artist Spencer Finch.
Spencer Finch: Lost Man Creek, 2016 | Claudio Papapietro, Courtesy Public Art Fund, NY

Artist Spencer Finch has created a miniature forest in the middle of Brooklyn. Through his perspective, the artwork becomes a reminder of nature’s power to inspire. Lost Man Creek is on view through March 2018 at MetroTech Commons, Myrtle Avenue between Jay Street and Flatbush Avenue, Downtown Brooklyn.