A Kathy Ruttenberg sculpture.
By Alex Israel
During a Community Board 7 Parks & Environment Committee Meeting this week, the Chair of the Broadway Mall Association’s Public Art Committee, Deborah Foord, presented the plan for their next large-scale sculpture installation, “Kathy Ruttenberg on Broadway: in dreams awake,” which opens on April 27, 2018. The new exhibition is the latest in a series of “On Broadway” public art pieces, the most recent from Joy Brown.
Kathy Ruttenberg describes her art as a combination of “human, animal, and plant forms,” and has experimented with a number of mediums in the past, including painting, ceramics, papier-mâché sculpture, and jewelry. Her work has been featured in nearly 40 solo exhibitions, and more than 100 group exhibitions. This will be her first outdoor sculpture installation of this magnitude.
A collection of six “fantastical narrative sculptures” will go up on 64th, 72nd, 79th, 96th, 117th, and 157th Streets and Broadway. The sculptures are constructed from cast silicon bronze and range from 6′ to 15′ in height. Some will also feature LED lighting for the first time in a Broadway Mall Association public art display. The six works include:
- 64th Street – All the World’s a Stage, 189.5″ high x 52″ diameter
- 72nd Street – In Sync, 96″ high x 52″ diameter
- 79th Street – Ms. Mighty Mouse, 120″ high x 48″ wide x 32″ diameter
- 96th Street – Snail’s Pace, 74″ high x 114″ long x 48″ wide
- 116th Street – Topsy Turvy, 140.5″ high x 52″ diameter
- 157th Street – Fish Bowl, 101″ high x 110″ long x 96″ wide
Installation will occur during the week of April 15, 2018, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening will be held at 11AM on April 27, 2018, at the south entrance to the 72nd Street 1 train. The exhibition will be up through February 2019.
You can learn more about the artist’s process of creating this installation in this video.
“96th Street – Snail’s Pace, 74″ high x 114″ long x 48″ wide”
Kind of a metaphor for the DOT in this:
City Draws Crosswalks on West End Avenue, But 96th Remains Bare
I enjoy the various sculptures that have been placed along Broadway, but I noticed that this particular installation has the vast majority of compressed between 64 and 79 Streets. Only 1 between sculpture between 96 and 116 Street. Why is there a vacuum between West 96 Street to West 116 Street? Certainly the neighborhoods above West 96 Street appreciate the arts
Fascinating work. Look forward to seeing it.
Can’t wait to see Beautiful Broadway installation of Kathy Ruttenberg art
This is wonderful… I can’t wait to see this and take the tour on Broadway here on the Upper West Side…We need more Kathy Ruttenberg’s.
Who votes on what goes where? All this art is taking away the beauty of our trees and greenery. Why do we have to clutter all natural spaces?
If they want to call this art they can, just more garbage placed on the upper west side.
It looks like it is carved out of butter – I always love my artwork with a schmeer! I’m just a little worried about what happens when it gets hot…
I’d rather eat ,[the proper], SNAILS, [some of my heritage’s ESCARGOTs], : W butter & garlic sauce, again. I’d like to eat certain FISH. I’ve done sculptures. Is the LED Lighting, made in U.S.A>< ?