This year, New York City has been adding so many wonderful outdoor public exhibitions for visitors to explore. Our Instagram feeds are certainly in for a treat.
Offering an alternative to museums, art galleries, and exhibits, these open-air installations are all free to check out and reside in the great outdoors of our city!
From sculptures to mind-bending light displays, our curated list of must-see installments is as follows:
Chamberlain Goes Outdoors at Rockefeller Center
After a respite in Amsterdam, Scotland, and London, artist John Chamberlain’s work is on its way to 30 Rock: FIDDLERSFORTUNE (Pink) (2010), BALMYWISECRACK (Copper) (2010), and RITZFROLIC (Green) (2008) are large-scale glittery masterpieces that are some of the creator’s final pieces before his death in 2011. Once you’re done admiring the outdoor installation at 30 Rock, venture to Christie’s (20 Rockefeller Plaza) to see smaller but equally dazzling works from the artist, including seven small-scale “Foils,” two “Tonks,” and three tabletop sculptures.
Where: 30 Rockefeller Center
When: April 16- May 29, 2025
Love Continuum
This brand new art installation in Union Square celebrates the essence of love in all of its forms and invites viewers to explore the connection between art, perception, and emotion. Visitors can catch a glimpse of the squiggly statue from a distinct vantage point that reveals the world “love,” symbolizing how love can take on many shapes and forms depending on how one looks at it.
Local cafe Newsbar is also serving limited-edition cookies adorned with the sculpture’s design and disposable cups with the design in March.
Where: University Place Plaza (Union Square)
When: Now – August 2025
Dinosaur
A massive, hyper-realistic pigeon sculpture named “Dinosaur” has landed on the High Line, challenging our perspective on these ubiquitous urban birds.
Created by artist Iván Argote, the 16-foot-tall aluminum-cast sculpture towers over visitors, inverting the typical human-pigeon dynamic. This unique installation pays tribute to New York City’s unofficial mascot, celebrating the complexity and diversity of both pigeons and New Yorkers alike.
Where: The High Line (10th Avenue and 30th St)
When: October 17, 2024 – April 2026
Hippo Ballerina
Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus is now home to a delightful sculpture garden featuring Bjørn Okholm Skaarup’s famous ‘Hippo Ballerina.’
This 15-foot-tall, 2.5-ton bronze masterpiece is part of The Magis Sculpture Exhibition, which showcases 11 sculptures from various artists. The exhibition, open daily to the public, offers a unique blend of art and nature in the heart of New York City, with QR codes providing additional information about each piece and its creator.
Where: 113 W 60th St
Edra Soto: Graft
Edra Soto’s latest sculpture in Central Park explores Puerto Rican roots on a deeper level, inviting New Yorkers to think more critically about identity and colonialism. Inspired by rejas, which are wrought iron screens frequently seen outside homes in Puerto Rico, the corten steel and terrazo sculpture serves as a nod to Puerto Rico’s working communities.
What makes the sculpture unique is that one side represents a home’s exterior; the other, the more intimate atmosphere of an interior. It’s meant to serve as a reminder of the centrality of the Caribbean to the history of the city and country.
Where: Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Central Park (60th Street and 5th Avenue)
When: September 5th 2024 – August 24th, 2025
The Space Between Us by Risha Gorig
What one displayed at Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn Bridge Park back in 2000 now finds itself right in the heart of Union Square. The Space Between Us and its pink, curiously floating chairs aims to challenge New Yorkers to think deeper about the divide in public discourse in NYC and the country.
Gorig has recontextualized TSBU and strategically chosen Union Square, a historic place for people to gather together and advocate for conversation and transformation. It’s meant to serve as a metaphor to encourage more healthy communication on issues in the community and in society as a whole.
Where: Union Square
When: Now – May 2025
The Dumbo Projection Project
From now until April 20th, you can check out an outdoor video art exhibition projected onto Dumbo’s most iconic infrastructure! Presented by The Dumbo Improvement District, there will be 3 different screening rotations, including Victorian floral bouquets from community generated messages, works following New Yorkers as they shop, walk, chew gum and buy flowers, and surrealist animated stories.
They are viewable on Thursdays – Saturdays from dusk to 10 pm. Learn more here.
Where: Manhattan Bridge on both the Pearl Street and Adams Street sides, BQE in Susan Smith McKinney Steward Park
The Big Button
Playfully representing the theme of the neighborhood it sits in, The Garment District, the newly unveiled “The Big Button” sculpture aims to tell the tale of this historic area. This piece of art was a staple in Midtown for over 30 years before eventually receiving a recent facelift.
It stands at 28 feet tall with a 15-foot diameter aluminum button and 32-foot brushed stainless-steel needle. The pop art “represents NYC’s prominent fashion industry and serving as a beloved symbol of our neighborhood and its rich history,” according to Barbara A. Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance.
Where: Corner of 39th St & 7th Ave
“The Bean” by Anish Kapoor
Who says “The Bean” only has to be in Chicago? NYC’s rendition of the reflective masterpiece by Anish Kapoor can be found nestled into a corner of the “Jenga Building” in Tribeca!
It stands 19 feet tall, stretches 48 feet long and weighs a whopping 40 tons! Izak Senbahar, president of Alexico Group hopes that the structure “will draw arts and culture lovers to its magical seamless surface.” Stop by a take a mirror pic today!
Where: 56 Leonard St