“Curtain Call” by Karon Davis

Hovering thirty feet above Manhattan’s west side on our beloved High Line is Karon Davis’  graceful sculpture of a ballerina taking her final bow at the end of a performance aptly named “Curtain Call”.  Known for her sculptures and installations that incorporated dance, theater, and moving images, for this piece Ms. Davis drew inspiration from her family, crafting the sculpture as an homage to her parents and sister who were all professional dancers.

The artist’s sculpture of a ballerina at the end of a grueling performance captures the mental and physical toll a dancer goes through to put on a show. To bring the dancer’s experience to life, Davis leveraged a mix of 3D scanning technology with traditional sculpting techniques, creating a bronze figure based on a plaster cast of ballerina Jasmine Perry. The work is part of Davis’ series Beauty Must Suffer, which examines the “life and labor” of Black ballerinas. This installation will be available at the High Line at 23rd Street until its last bow in November 2024.

“N.Y.C. Legend” by Alexander Klingspor

Have you heard Alligators living in the New York City sewers? These creatures have survived urban legend, passed on by kids and adults alike in a tall tale that developed in the early 1920s and never quite died. Fear not, there are no real alligators roaming the New York City sewers (that we know of), but this bit of folklore has stood the test of time and the story continues to be shared.

Swedish Artist Alexander Klingspor pays tribute to this old urban legend in his latest bronze statue “N.Y.C. Legend,” currently on display at Union Square in Manhattan through June 2024. Klingspor’s statue follows the age-old tradition of myth becoming art, bringing to life the classic tale of the New York City Alligators.

Look closely enough at this installation, and you will find some modern touches alongside Klingspor’s alligator. A quarter represents the relic of a society becoming increasingly cashless, a plastic straw represents the growing awareness of plastic wastefulness, and a COVID test container represents what we have recently overcome. The trash left in this Alligator’s sewer is a testament to where New Yorkers have been, and where we are heading.

New Guidance on Immigration Medical Examination Validity Period

On April 4, 2024, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that effective immediately, any Form I-693, Report of Immigration Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, which was properly completed and signed by a civil surgeon on or after November 1, 2023, does not have an expiration date. The service noted that the Form can be used indefinitely to evidence that the applicant is “not inadmissible on health-related grounds.” This determination was made by USCIS in consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and “based on advances in public health electronic notification.”

Francis Scott Key Bridge

“Field of Light” by Bruce Munro

As the sun sets on our bustling city, British artist Bruce Munro’s “Field of Light” comes to life in the form of 17,000 fiber-optic spheres which create a glowing other-worldly landscape.

Munro’s installation was inspired by a 1992 trip to Uluru through the Red Desert in central Australia, where he was struck by the brightness, energy, and heat of the desert landscape. He sought to capture that feeling in his artwork, noting he “wanted to create an illuminated field of stems that, like the dormant seed in a dry desert, would burst into bloom at dusk with gentle rhythms of light under a blazing blanket of stars.” After ten years in development, the “Field of Light” exhibition was born.

The exhibition is immersive, and has guided millions through the changing fiberoptic lights as they take a winding path through the ethereal landscape across the globe. The field at Freedom Plaza will light up Manhattan through August 31st.

“The Schagen Letter”

Four centuries ago, Manhattan was sold by its indigenous Lenape inhabitants to Dutch colonialists for a mere twenty-four dollars, as documented in the renowned Schagen Letter on display at the New York Historical Society. While today it's challenging to find a meal in Manhattan for under twenty-four dollars, this transaction laid the groundwork for the modern city of New York.

Yet, for the Lenape people, this was not a genuine sale but rather an imposition of colonial dominance, stripping them of their ancestral rights. Adjacent to the Schagen Letter, visitors can find a contemporary letter from Lenape leaders (slide four), discrediting the Schagen sale. They assert that this transaction does not define them and that their intrinsic bond with “Manahahtáanung” remains unbreakable.

Take a moment to honor the ancestors and history of New York by viewing the Schagen letter at the New York Historical Society until the exhibit closes on July 14th!