Cristo’s “The Gates”

The Gates were a site-specific work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo and French artist Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl “gates” along 23 miles of pathways in Central Park in New York City. Each gate included a panel of deep saffron-colored nylon fabric. The installation ran from February 12–27, 2005.

On a snowy February weekend, my older son Benjamin and I took the Acela to New York to see this extravaganza. (There was likely a business excuse to be there, as well). It was beautiful and memorable. We also had the distinct honor of being patrons of Cristo’s creation. As part of the fundraiser to pay for the project, Cristo was offering signed lithographs of his sketches and notebooks of The Gates. This one (below) has occupied a prominent spot on my wall ever since.