Features
The Queer History of Central Park’s Bethesda Fountain
Artist Emma Stebbins may have modeled her 1873 bronze angel for the popular landmark after her partner, actor Charlotte Cushman.
Central Park
News
Artists Mourn Death of Flaco, the Owl Who Inspired Millions
A large oak in Central Park bears drawings, photographs, letters, and other odes to the beloved bird.
Art
Bharti Kher's Monumental "Ancestor" Sculpture Watches Over Central Park
The artist says her sculpture of a mother figure, located at the southeast entrance of the park, represents “a guide to search and honor our past histories.”
News
Monument to Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth Unveiled in Central Park
A statue of three pioneers of women's rights joined the park's collection, which previously featured only fictional women.
News
Central Park Women's Suffrage Monument Approved After Months of Heated Debate
Following criticism over the historical accuracy of previous proposals, the statue was revised again to reflect differences of opinion between abolitionist Sojourner Truth, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.
News
Monument to Seneca Village Family Rushed and Historically Inaccurate, Experts Say
The monument to the Lyons family from the historic 19th-century village of mostly Black residents will be placed nearly 20 blocks uptown from its original location in Central Park.
News
Historians Raise Concerns Over Central Park's Suffragist Monument
"If Sojourner Truth is added," the letter reads, "it could obscure the substantial differences between white and black suffrage activists, and would be misleading."
News
Architects Reimagine Central Park After a Fictional Eco-Terrorist Attack
Competitors for the University of Pennsylvania's ICONOCLAST Design Competition were asked to design a post-apocalyptic Central Park after a fictional eco-terrorist attack left "Bill Di Blastoff" looking for a more democratic, ecological, and beautiful plan.
Art
Images of Joy in Central Park from 1970s New York
The photographs in the exhibition at the Arsenal Gallery create a sub-narrative to New York during its time of crisis, imparting an uncommon joie de vivre in a story that is commonly defined in terms of disintegration and sadness.
News
Statue of Gynecologist Who Experimented on Enslaved Women Removed from Central Park
The monument to J. Marion Sims will eventually be installed, along with a display adding historical context, near his grave in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.
Art
160 Years of Ice Skating in New York City
Ice skating in New York reveals the history of social spaces in the city that helped shape the foundations of modern life.
News
Central Park's First Statue of Historic Women Will Honor Two Suffragettes
On the centennial of women's suffrage in New York state, the Parks Department dedicated a site for a forthcoming statue of two of the movement's leaders: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.