Today, Wednesday,December 1st, if you stop by the Arch at 5:30 p.m., you’ll be sure to see lots of people and white tents (to stay out of the rain!) to commemorate World AIDS Day, remembering those who have died of AIDS. There will be a one hour ceremony at which speakers will include Liza Minnelli, Stockard Channing, Tyson Beckford, Kenneth Cole, and NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn (who many of us are in disagreement with on many issues, including her role in the redesign of the park, term limits, no record of protection of animal rights, and more) . The lights will be shut off at the Washington Square Arch – and then re-illuminated – as well as at landmarks across the city including the Brooklyn Bridge, NY Stock Exchange, Madison Square Garden, Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and 35 Broadway theaters. This public event is part of the Light for Rights campaign; its focus is to keep the Lights on HIV and Human Rights. More info here.
WSP Blog Note: I tried to find out more about how exactly the lights get shut off at the 100+ year old Arch from the producer of the event – is there a light switch? – but I don’t know if he realized what I was asking so I was not successful!
I once owned a print of a painting which I think had someone siting on a park bench with a Garibaldi statue behind it. From searching it looks like the painting was set in Washington Square Park. The painting style was semi-abstract with fauvist type coloring I believe.
Does anyone know the name of this piece and artist