Unisphere-Inspired Art Exhibit Debuts In Flushing Meadows Park

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- A new art exhibit in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park will put visitors on top of the world - literally.

The park's famed Unisphere has long offered visitors a metaphorical trip around the world, but artist Zaq Lansberg took the idea a step further by recreating its continents into seating, stages and meeting places that will surround the stainless steel globe fields for the next year.

Landsberg's custom work, titled "Islands of the Unisphere," was unveiled in the park on Tuesday as part of the city's "Art in the Parks" initiative, which funds 10 new artworks in New York City parks each year.

The NYC Parks Department launched the program in 2016 with clothing retailer Uniqlo, who funds the projects with a $100,000 grant - giving each artist $10,000.

“Parks’ partnership with Uniqlo has expanded our public art offerings across the five boroughs, and we are excited for another year of amazing new artworks by local artists,” said Commissioner Mitchell Silver.

A panel of community members, artists, NYC Parks and Uniqlo representatives choose the art projects based on artistic and creative merit, local response and feasibility - bonus points if the work relates to its park or neighborhood. The first round of winning artists installed their pieces June 2017, and each was on display for a year.

“For a second year, we have enjoyed working with the talented recipients of the UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant as they bring their visions to life in parks across the city,” said Hiroshi Taki, CEO of Uniqlo.

Landsberg, a Brooklyn-based artist, said his exhibit was inspired by Queens' diversity. He replicated the Unisphere's continents at scale and lumped them into an archipelago of seating, stages and meeting places laid across the surrounding lawn. The continents, figuratively stitched together without labels, are recognizable only by their shapes.

"Islands of the Unisphere" will stay up in Flushing Meadows until July 2019, according to the Parks Department.

Another Queens "Art in the Park" winner this year can be found in a series of mirrored pillars at Jamaica's Rufus King Park.

Brooklyn-based artist Rose DeSiano used the mirrored reflections in "Absent Monuments" to celebrate and immerse the viewer into Jamaica's complex history of colonization, war and immigration.

The pillars' stone bases feature blue and white tiles displaying the history of Rufus King Park, surrounded by floral tiles inspired by Native American patterns. The monument is a tribute to the complex history of Native Americans and Queens' various periods of cultural displacement, DeSiano said.

"Absent Monuments" will stay in Rufus King Park through June 2019.

Photos courtesy of the NYC Parks Department