Wimbledon Tennis Championships

After over a year of cancelled sports, or games played to empty stands, the crowd at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships is finally enjoying their favorite sport in person. There’s something special about gathering together to watch a match, experiencing the highs and lows of the competition firsthand. Between the vivid green court and the bright blue sky, the energy of the crowd is palpable. No matter which players they’re rooting for, the tennis fans at Wimbledon are once again feeling the vibrant excitement of sitting in the stands at a live sporting event, a feeling that can’t be replicated by watching in their living rooms at home.

Elephants in London

Wildlife in London is usually limited to squirrels, pigeons, and ducks – the usual urban fauna. Londoners don’t generally expect to navigate around elephants while they walk through the public parks. For the last six weeks, however, that is exactly what they did. The elephants, of course, were not real, living beasts, but life-size sculptures installed in the Royal Parks by Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective as part of the CoExistence initiative. In an attempt to raise awareness of the increasing numbers of elephants living in human-dominated landscapes, these 100 Asian elephant sculptures were placed in the UK’s largest urban center. The sculptures are handcrafted by communities in Tamil Nadu, India, many of whom coexist with real life elephants. At the end of their time in London, the elephants, which are each unique, will be sold, with the proceeds benefiting Elephant Family.

Kehinde Wiley at Moynihan Train Hall

As commuters and sightseers stream into the Moynihan Train Hall at Penn Station via the W33rd street entrance, they are bathed in colored light. If they look up, they’ll see the reason: a gorgeous glass triptych by Kehinde Wiley, the artist famous for painting Barack Obama’s official presidential portrait, set into the ceiling. At first glance, the design is similar to the religious imagery that adorns the ceilings of churches and government buildings throughout the US and Europe – angels lounging in the clouds, looking down at the people moving below. But a second look reveals that the angels in Wiley’s work, titled “Go,” look very different from those that grace European frescoes. These angels are young, Black New Yorkers dressed in modern fashions. And they’re not lounging – these angels are breakdancing across the clouds. The work is joyful and dynamic, celebrating the Black people who have shaped and will continue to shape this city. This colorful piece is a perfect welcome to the city for travelers arriving in New York. At any rate, it is certainly an improvement over the current iteration of Penn Station.