Public Art Project to Plant Giant Roses on Park Avenue

Park Avenue Rose SculpturesThe new public art sculptures along Park Avenue will feature fiberglass roses measuring from three to 22 feet by the artist Will Ryman. (Courtesy Will Ryman)

By Gabriela Resto-Montero

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

UPPER EAST SIDE — Roses will bloom in winter along Park Avenue when a new art exhibit opens next year.

Beginning in January 2011, the Parks Department will install eight different clusters of rose sculptures along Park Avenue between East 57th and East 67th streets, Our Town reported.

“Flowers in January is exactly what we need on a cold, winter day," Barbara McLaughlin, president of the Fund for Park Avenue, told the paper. "It will all help us get through the season a lot easier.”

The roses will be designed by Will Ryman, who previously exhibited sculpted roses at a 2009 show exploring a vermin-eye view of New York.

Community Board 8 members expressed concern that the proposed fiberglass roses, which weigh up to 2,500 pounds each and measure between 3 and 22 feet tall, would pose a danger to pedestrians and drivers if they fell, Our Town reported.

The owner of the studio collaborating with Ryman on the project, Konstantin Bojanov, assured the board that the flowers could withstand hurricane-force winds, according to the newspaper.

The project is expected to cost around $1 million.

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