Lucy D. Rosenfeld - Art on Sight: The Best Art Walks In and Near New York City

Christophe Fratin: Eagles and Prey, 1850, Central Park, New York, NY

Copyright 2013 by Lucy D. Rosenfeld and Marina Harrison
Maps Lucy D. Rosenfeld
Art credits appear .

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages.

Book design and composition by Susan Livingston
Maps by Lucy D. Rosenfeld

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data are available
Art on Sight
ISBN 978-0-881-50996-0
ISBN 978-1-581-57712-9 (e-book)

Published by The Countryman Press,
P.O. Box 748, Woodstock, VT 05091

Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

MAPS

The margins have color-coded listings to serve as a quick guide for visiting the sites. While some of the categories overlapall museums are cultural centersthe colors should give you a good general idea of the sorts of places and sites youll encounter.

Welcome to Art on Sight! In the following pages we will take you on a fascinating variety of explorations to the world of visual art. We hope that if you have a taste for beauty and enjoy walking, you will discover many wonderful new sites to pique your fancy in our city and the nearby tristate region. We have brought together eclectic outings that will introduce you to the rich and diverse treasures of the metropolitan area. New York has amazed us with its wealth of art and natural beautynot only in Manhattan, but in the outer boroughs as well. Parks, plazas, gardens, atria, as well as the citys great museums, are all home to the visual pleasures of public art. The nearby suburbs and countryside also have their share of amazing art to see. Join us in discovering these exciting venues. Our book includes as large a variety as possible of styles and eras of art. Whether you are a fancier of the latest contemporary works, ethnic artifacts, or arts of the past, we think you will find outings that will inspire you.

For these outings, we have used a broad definition of art. The lines separating art from craft have long ago blurred, and environmental and landscape art have touched the boundaries of architecture. We have similarly tried to include a wide variety of artistic styles, and to give fair representation to younger, lesser-known artists, as well as to the great names of past and present.

What do we mean by public art? It is art that is available to be seen on a regular basis (with or without charge of suggested donationsee listed websites for current information). To us the phrase public art includes the many forms of the visual arts to be enjoyed in outdoor or indoor public spaces. Our walks include everything from traditional paintings to performance art and auctions, from works in progress to outdoor sculptures, from tapestries to stained-glass windows, from WPA murals to contemporary installations.

This book is for those of you who have a taste for art and architecture, as well as curiosity for exploring unusual places of artistic interest. You need not be a connoisseur to appreciate the aesthetic pleasures of Art on Sight

We do not pretend that this is a comprehensive guide to the regions many artistic treats. From the numerous places we visited we have selected these outings because they captured our imagination. In your wanderings you might well discover additional places that we would be happy to know about.

This book represents our tenth collaboration, and we are grateful to our many readers who have told us how much they have enjoyed our introductions into the worlds of art and gardens and architecture. We wish to acknowledge the photographic contribution to this book of Robert L. Harrison, whose fine photographs have been an essential element.

We hope you will get as much pleasure from these adventures as we have.

From the Museum of Arts and Design to Lincoln Center: Six Blocks Celebrating the Arts

DIRECTIONS By subway, take the A, B, C, D, or 1 line to Columbus Circle.

In its new (2002) expanded space, our first stop is a terrific addition to the citys art sites: the Museum of Arts and Design , 2 Columbus Circle at 59th Street (212-299-7777; www.madmuseum.org). Tuesday, Wednesday, FridaySunday 11 AM 6 PM ; Thursday 11 AM 9 PM . (Closed Monday.) Admission fee; free admission for children under age 12; tours and open studios. Occupying a vertical museum building originally designed by Edward Durell Stone, and beautifully redone by Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture, this is a rare treasure.

Originally called the American Craft Museum, it has expanded both in a spatial sense and in its understanding and definition of crafts and designor what this museum calls the blur between art, design and craft today.

One gallery on each floor displays a tremendous variety of frequently changing exhibits that range from pottery to baskets, fiberworks to wood creations, jewelry to glassworks, painting to illustrations. There is an ongoing emphasis on process and the media used by these worldwide, multifaceted artists and artisans. Their creations are originalto say the leastand the spacious settings allow you to study, for example, art using dirt, chairs made of grown reeds, and baskets and wall hangings of the oddest of shapes.

Recent shows include the provocative Swept Away: Dust, Ash, and Dirt as Media, Glasstress New York, Art of Scent, and Beauty in All Things: Japanese Art and Design. One show was devoted to art from the Venice Biennale. There is also an ongoing interest in craft as it relates to jewelry; this is the only museum in the nation with a permanent collection of contemporary art jewelry.

The museum offers talks and curator-led tours, as well as workshops. Dont miss this museum visit.

On leaving Columbus Circle, walk up Broadway to the unusual and provocative Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) , 1865 Broadway at 61st Street (212-408-1500; www.mobia.org). Tuesday, Wednesday, FridaySunday 10 AM 6 PM ; Thursday 10 AM 8 PM . (Closed Monday.) Free admission; tours are available free of charge.