URBAN ART
In City Hall Park art exhibit “Lightness of Being” opened with officials from the mayor’s office and the Public Art Fund introducing the works of eleven artists whose creations are scattered among the trees and around the fountain. A deconstructed John Deere tractor, a pair of bronze flip-flops resting at the fountain basin, enormous concrete vegetable benches, goofy cowboy hats, and a performance art clown sitting sullenly on a bench are among the exhibit’s whimsical and inventive works illustrating that public statuary doesn’t have to be stiff and formal. Installed in the park until mid-December they are an added attraction to the groves of trees, which almost block out the towers overhead. http://www.publicartfund.org/view/exhibitions/6015_lightness_of_being
URBAN FARM
A little further south a full-fledged garden is flourishing in Battery Park. Imagine sunflowers, squash vines and carrot tops emerging from the soil to confront the giant buildings overhead. The turkey-shaped farm has been carved out of an acre of the 25 acre park and surrounded by a fence of bamboo poles repurposed from the “Doug and Mike Starn’s Big Bambu,” roof exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum two years ago. The farm provides learning opportunities for school groups, camps, teachers, students, and members of the downtown community who join in the planting, cultivating, harvesting, and tasting the fruits of the harvest.
During the evening we stopped by tours of the garden plots were followed by cooking demonstrations and outdoor massages. A representative of Joulebody prepared zucchini noodles with spinach and pesto sauce while the therapists from The Setai hotel and spa helped relax our muscles. www.thebattery.org
