"How I Roll" - Rotating Plane Sculpture By Paola Pivi At Doris Freedman Plaza In Central Park

The Public Art Fund is presenting a new sculpture by Paola Pivi called "How I Roll" at the Doris C. Freedman Plaza in Central Park. The piece is a modified six-seat Piper Seneca plane that rotates through 360 degrees while held aloft on its wing tips above the sidewalk. The sculpture is part of a series featuring large machines that have been taken out of their usual context including an upside-down helicopter and an overturned tractor-trailer. The public art installation creates the striking and surreal experience of a familiar object perched in an unexpected location doing a very unfamiliar motion. It looks more dramatic in the presence of cars and horse-drawn carriages on the street right below it, as captured in the photo above. The exhibition continues through August 26, 2012.

FAO Schwarz Flagship Store

FAO Schwarz has become a popular destination in Manhattan, drawing children and adults alike from around the world. Throughout 2012, the oldest toy store in the country is celebrating its 150th year anniversary with in-store events like exhibit and commemorative product offerings. The flagship store is located in the General Motors building at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street. 

Waterline

My favorite artwork in the South Street Seaport Museum is a site-specific installation created by Cooper Joseph Studio called "Waterline." It is made of blue nylon paracord and almost 4,000 lead fishing weights or sinkers tied together hanging from the ceiling. The installation evokes a sense of being below the surface. Waterline refers to the line where the air meets the sea on the side of a vessel. 

Celebrating Summer Solstice in Times Square: Mind Over Madness Yoga

Today, the longest day of the year, thousands of yoga enthusiasts converged on Times Square to find serenity, celebrate the sun, the beginning of summer and creativity for this year's Athleta Mind Over Madness Yoga. The day-long yoga fest in Manhattan's most crowded, frenetic and commercialized location offered free yoga classes for all levels, an Athleta fashion show and music from Prasanna.

Kiki Smith's Stained-Glass Stars Art Installation "Chorus" Pays Tribute to Josephine Baker

CHORUS by Kiki Smith is the latest art installation at The Last Lot project space on 46th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan's theatre district. Presented by the Art Production Fund and supported by UBS, CHORUS is comprised of multicolored stained-glass stars clustered throughout the lot. The free standing sculptures range from 18 inches to six feet in height and are a kaleidoscope of hand-blown, translucent, iridized, modeled, and cathedral glass. Among the stars is a figure of Josephine Baker, the American-born French burlesque dancer, singer and actress in the 1920’s. As a tribute to Baker, the rainbow-colored stars evoke the glitz and glamor of Broadway and the Theater District surrounding the installation site. “As the sun shines through and glitters upon the translucent and opaque glass, the stars will contrast with the raw urban lot,” explained Smith. 

Josephine Baker was the first African American female to star in a major motion picture. She was also the quintessential entertainer of her era. Baker is also known for her support of the Civil Rights Movement and for her family of adopted children from all over the world, whom she called “The Rainbow Tribe.” Baker served as a muse to several influential artists based in Paris at the time such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Pablo Picasso. Smith, whose work often explores feminist themes through depictions of the female body and women from history and mythology, is drawn to the complexity of Baker’s career as an erotic and primitivist performer/showgirl, and a social and political activist. The Last Lot is a generous short-term donation to Art Production Fund from The Shubert Organization, and is part of the Times Square Alliance’s public art program that works to bring cutting-edge art to Times Square. The display continues through September 4, 2012. (information obtained from the Times Square Alliance website).

HBO 20th Anniversary Bryant Park Summer Film Festival 2012 Kicks Off With PSYCHO

The HBO 20th Anniversary Bryant Park Summer Film Festival 2012 began tonight with the screening of the film "Psycho." Now with Pepsi and presented with Ralph Lauren, the festival celebrates the 20th anniversary of the reopening of the park and the film festival which highlights some of the most memorable films from the last 20 years. The Monday night film festival is free. Screening begins at sunset. The festival schedule is found in the website.