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PARK FACT:
When it was first opened, part of this park was set aside as a place of respite for child laborers.
Thomas Jefferson Park
1 Ave., FDR Dr., bet. E. 111 St. and E. 114 St.
Manhattan
Directions: Google Maps | MTA Trip Planner
Acres: 15.52
Tomorrow’s Wind
New Jersey-based African American sculptor Melvin Edwards (b. 1937) created this abstract welded steel piece. The polished disk and crescent-like shape are indicative of the sculptor’s large-scale public art pieces, which tend to feature immense shapes that conjure up images from the natural world.
Edwards designed the polished disk to be tilted so it can reflect sunlight as the sun moves across the sky during the day. The installation of this piece was sponsored by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs’s Percent for Art program. Tomorrow’s Wind was first installed at Central Park’s Doris C. Freedman Plaza before it was moved to Thomas Jefferson Park permanently in 1995.
Another of Edwards’ works, Double Circles (1968), can be seen outside Upper Manhattan’s Bethune Tower housing project. Edwards’ sculpture is also featured at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. His small-scale work uses found objects such as chain links to comment on violence in political and historical issues such as slavery and racism.
