Creative Partnerships

Throughout history, extraordinary works of art have often played a key role in civic spaces that not only serve the public, but capture and express the spirit of their culture and place. That aspiration has informed the development of this series of major permanent installations for the Arrivals and Departures Hall of LaGuardia Airport Terminal B, commissioned by LaGuardia Gateway Partners in partnership with Public Art Fund. Opened to the public by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo in June 2020, Terminal B is a key feature of the most dramatic transformation of New York City’s transportation infrastructure in a generation. The four works by artists Jeppe Hein, Sabine Hornig, Laura Owens, and Sarah Sze reflect a richly-layered global city defined by its creative energy, openness, diversity, and democratic spirit.

Symbolizing life, wisdom, and organic growth, the willow tree is a fitting metaphor for the unique but interrelated languages spoken today. Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer conceived of his interactive sculpture Speaking Willow to celebrate the world’s rich linguistic diversity. As visitors pass beneath the tree’s branches, they activate the bell-shaped speakers suspended directly overhead. Each speaker has been programmed with sample recordings of a different language. Together, they represent the native tongues of over 99% of the planet’s population. A walk around Speaking Willow evokes a journey around the world; it reminds us that language is what defines our specific communities and connects our many cultures.

Waiting Room (2012), a site-specific sculpture commission by Franz West for the William H. Bloomberg MDA Jerusalem Station in Israel

In 2011 Public Art Fund, in partnership with American Friends of Magen David Adom, commissioned a new monumental work by Franz West (1947 – 2012) for the plaza abutting the William H. Bloomberg MDA Jerusalem Station in Israel. Named in honor of Michael R. Bloomberg’s father and the flagship of Magen David Adom’s nationwide facilities, the station provides emergency medical, disaster, ambulance and blood bank service for the surrounding areas. West’s Waiting Room is made of painted fiberglass and steel, and the twenty-foot high vibrant green and blue sculpture is comprised of eight unique curved shapes, with protruding elements at the base that form a seating area for the public. The work has become a part of the cityscape, growing into a landmark and gathering place, as well as a respite for visitors to the station.

In the early 2000’s, Public Art Fund collaborated with Forest City Ratner Companies and Hilton Hotel Corporation on the launch of an esteemed art collection for the Embassy Suites Hotel New York City, which became the Conrad New York in 2012. Located in Battery Park City, Conrad New York distinguishes itself as a destination for visual art taking the cultural richness of New York City, nearby public works, and the interplay between art and architecture as inspiration. Over 2,000 Modern and Contemporary artworks greet the Conrad’s guests in both the hotel’s public spaces and private suites. The permanent collection ranges from site specific commissions, including conceptual artist Sol LeWitt’s monumental thirteen story high wall drawing Loopy Doopy (Blue and Purple) in the atrium, which took more than 3,000 hours to create, and Pat Steir’s expressive wall painting Topsy Turvy created onsite and located outside the Grand Ballroom, to more intimate lithographs found in all 463 suites. The lithograph collection contains work by Mary Heilmann, whose folk-inspired abstractions are seen in rbor, Earth and Air, Africa and The Sound of White Water, and five-prints by Elizabeth Peyton in her distinctive energetic, style, among others.

Andy Goldsworthy’s Garden of Stones (2003), a living memorial created for New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage.

Andy Goldsworthy’s Garden of Stones was commissioned by Public Art Fund in partnership with the Memorial Garden of The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Garden of Stones, Goldsworthy’s first permanent commission in New York City, consists of a poignant and contemplative garden of trees growing from stone, and is dedicated to the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust and honors those who survived. Planted in 2003 by the artist with Holocaust survivors and their family members, the installation includes eighteen boulders that form a series of narrow pathways within the 4,150 square feet of the Memorial Garden. A single dwarf oak sapling emerges from the top of each boulder, growing within the stone. As each tree matures, they become more integrally apart of their stone – their trunks widening and fusing to their stone bases. Working in close partnership, Public Art Fund and The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust collaborated on the artist selection process, and the creation and installation of Garden of Stones.