High Line Mural Celebrates Statue Of Liberty

CHELSEA, NY — A new mural on the High Line celebrates the Statue of Liberty and its pro-immigrant message through a vibrant spread along the elevated park, created by the eclectic artist Dorothy Iannone.

Iannone's new mural is her first public artwork, and it debuted on the High Line near 22nd street. The mural, which features three colorful and reimagined Lady Libertys, bears the closing line of the Emma Lazarus poem that's a part of of the original Lady Liberty: "I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

This closing line precedes the poem's most famous words, which depict the U.S. as a place of refuge: "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, / The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."

"Iannone’s piece was conceived before the recent months of upheaval in the United States around immigration, an already contested topic; these recent debates have raised the Statue of Liberty anew as a symbol of the openness of New York City and the United States to those seeking asylum, freedom, or simply a better life," according to a statement from the High Line. "Iannone’s vibrant Liberties bring a bit of joy to an often exhausting and demoralizing political debate."

The mural will stay in Chelsea for a full year, through March 2019.

Iannone, 84, is known for her focus on eroticism and women's sexual experience, and much of her work was censored during the 20th century. Iannone now works out of Berlin.

Image credit: Ciara McCarthy / Patch