"Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds" by Fred Wilson

Standing ten feet tall in Brooklyn’s Columbus Park, Fred Wilson’s large-scale public sculpture “Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds” demands the viewership and consideration of all who pass by. Not simply because of its size, but rather because of its meaning and placement: Columbus Park is lined with historical monuments and memorials, many of which are highly contested. Controversial due to their roles in slavery, anti-abolitionist work, and violent legacies of racism, historical figures like Christopher Columbus and Henry Ward Beecher stand erect in the park, with “Mind Forged Manacles/Manacle Forged Minds” existing in opposition to them as a site-responsive intervention. Five dark figures stand locked inside two boxes, a signifier evoking themes of detainment, incarceration, and structural racism. This sculpture is an essential contributor to dialogues surrounding both monuments and the politics of erasure and exclusion in public spaces, as well as mass incarceration of Black bodies in the United States, the work having been developed in collaboration with youth at the Center for Court Innovation, an alternative-to-incarceration program. Wilson’s work prompts us to question ideas of historical memory, ideas of significance, ideas of freedom, and of how we determine who is deserving of such statuses.

“Las flores de mi país” at the Central Park Arsenal

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, the stately and imposing Central Park Arsenal, designed by the architect Martin Thompson plays host to “Las flores de mi país” (The Flowers of My Country), an art exhibit created in collaboration with the Department of Parks and Recreation’s Latino Society and its Art and Antiquities Division showcasing the works of Hispanic artists.

Nestled on the third floor of the Annex, in between offices and conference rooms of the headquarters of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, “Las flores de mi país” welcomes the public. “Las flores de mi país” is a wide-ranging and vibrant exhibition centering around plants, nature, and the power of home and heritage. Featuring photographs, paintings, sculpture, and mixed media creations­­, the theme of the show rotates around the beauty and culture of a homeland, and occasionally, the pain of leaving it behind. Works by more than twenty Latinx artists who hail from a variety of Caribbean, South, and Central American nations (including Puerto Rico, Colombia, Mexico, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador) dot the walls, with great splashes of color and large floral canvases dominating the space. Of particular note are a series of nine paintings by artist Daniel Delvalle, whose day job as a gardener for NYC Parks is immediately apparent in his perceptive and beautiful floral expressions.

“Las flores de mi país” is on view and free to the public through November 10, 2022, in the Arsenal Gallery.

Harlem Fire Watchtower

Harlem is one of New York City’s most vibrant and historically significant neighborhoods and home to the majestic Marcus Garvey Park . Perched 70 feet above street level, on top of the park’s Atrium, is the historical Harlem Fire Watchtower, also known as the Mount Morris Park Tower. Designed by James Bogardus and built by German American engineer Julius H. Kroehl, from 1855 to 1857, the Tower stands 47 feet tall, with a 10,000-pound bell suspended at its center.

After a catastrophic fire in 1835, a series of watch towers were built throughout New York City to give firefighters a bird’s eye view to watch over the wooden buildings of the community, and ring the bell to alert the local fire station. As industrialization swept America, and pull boxes were invented, the watchtowers, which numbered eleven at their peak, became obsolete, and in time the towers were torn down.

Due to its location in the city and the support of the community, the Harlem Fire Watchtower is the only surviving structure from Bogardus’ designs using cast-iron architecture which inspired the steel cages that help support our modern-day skyscrapers. The Tower became a New York City landmark in 1967, and underwent full restoration in 2019. Today, this historical monument stands tall, honoring the evolution of the NYC Fire Department.