Now in its 18th iteration, details pertaining to this year’s Love in Times Square installation in Manhattan’s Duffy Square have been made available to the public.
The installation titled Making Love is a partnership between Times Square Arts, a public art program by the Times Square Alliance; and Powerhouse Arts, a nonprofit and fabrication hub based in Brooklyn.
Making Love is about celebrating romance, but also “love as labor, craft, and collective creation,” artists shared. Powerhouse’s Cythali Sapuis, Kelsey Breen, Nellie Davis, Jacqueline Veliz, and Lisa D. Archigian all contributed to the piece in various capacities.
“This year’s commission for Love in Times Square with Powerhouse Arts celebrates the fabricators, artisans, and makers who are so essential to our city’s creative endeavors—honoring love not only as romance, but as care, collaboration, and the shared act of building something together,” Times Square Arts director Jean Cooney said in a statement.
The installation will stand in as an Instagrammable-backdrop for lovers; it will even be used to host wedding ceremonies on February 14, Valentine’s Day. The piece functions like a pop-up card or “carousel book,” with four unique faces depicting four romantic scenes with New York City roots—illustrations include a botanical garden, a canal, and a bodega.
Artist Kelsey Breen is behind the botanical garden illustration. Her drawing takes cues from greenhouse architecture and plant life at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx (slated for a forthcoming redesign by Weiss/Manfredi).
The component conceived by Sapuis will be faced with envelopes. Passerby will be able to pen love letters that can become a part of the art piece.
Davis depicted another scene of the Gowanus Canal, in proximity to where Powerhouse is located. Artists Veliz and Archigian celebrated the quintessential New York City bodega with their contribution.
Making Love is on view starting February 12, two days before Valentine’s Day, through February 19.
Last year’s Love in Times Square installation, Love Ever After, was designed by Pernilla Ohrstedt Studio.