The US Capitol in Washington DC

The United States Capitol building is one of the most recognizable structures in the country. Its broad wings extend to the north and south, and its tall white dome is one of its most notable features. The building, originally designed in the 1790s, was created as a symbol of democracy and freedom. Surrounded by vast green lawns and a series of monuments, memorials, and museums, the building is impressive even today. The city of Washington DC was built with the Capitol at its center. George Washington’s trusted city planner, the Frenchman Pierre Charles L’Enfant, designed the city with wide diagonal boulevards connecting important sites, many of them radiating out from Capitol Hill. This design allows the building’s distinct dome to be seen from great distances, including from the White House, the baseball stadium, several city parks, and Union Station, where many people arrive in the city.

The Garment Worker by Judith Weller

Throughout New York City, permanent monuments grace sidewalks, street corners, and parks. Many of those monuments commemorate important events, influential people, and well-known heroes. Some, however, stand in tribute to everyday New Yorkers. Judith Weller’s “The Garment Worker” is one such statue, depicting a man in a yarmulke working at an old-fashioned sewing machine. Weller, originally from Israel, based the figure on memories of her father, a machine operator in the garment industry, similarly bent over a sewing machine hard at work. Jewish immigrants like the man depicted in the statue have a long and storied history in New York, with the first wave of them arriving as early as the 1650s. A few centuries later, from about the 1880s to the 1920s, the Jewish population in New York City boomed, growing by nearly 1 million in just a few decades. Many of these new arrivals ended up working in New York City’s prosperous garment industry, at one point making up a large majority of the labor force in that field. “The Garment Worker” sits at his table on 7th Avenue, a larger-than-life homage to the Jewish garment workers who made up “the backbone of Jewish life in New York at the turn of the century,” and the immigrants who shaped New York City.

Ascending the Mountain by Susan Stair

At the center of Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park is a small, rocky mountain covered with trees. It wasn’t always so verdant, though. Less than 100 years ago, the mountain was mostly bare rock, but over time, trees that were planted at the beginning of the twentieth century grew through the solid Manhattan Schist. Today, the entire park is shaded with trees. “Ascending the Mountain” is a three-part installation by artist Susan Stair, created as a tribute to this urban forest and the trees that make it up. The first part of the work, called “Roots in Rock,” is at the bottom of the mountain, visible from the first step of the staircase that leads to the top. You can look through the artwork, you can see the actual roots of the trees anchored in the rocky ground. The next part of the work, “Growing Powerhouse,” is a bit higher up on the winding stairs. This piece “illustrates the trees’ ability to bring gallons of water and minerals up the side of the mountain through their trunks.” The upright shapes of this portion echo the tree trunks and branches visible through the fence behind them. The final part is at the top of the staircase, near the highest point in the park. The flowing greens and golds of “Tree Canopy” look like an extension of the leafy treetops behind it. Looking out from the top of mountain, you can see out across the small forest and into the urban landscape beyond, offering a rare and wonderful perspective on the city and its relationship to nature.