A view of the new memorial | Photo: Facebook/Anthony Goicolea
New York City unveiled its very first memorial dedicated to the LGBTQ community.
Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled the art in Hudson River Park this week. He was joined by other elected officials, including Corey Johnson, who became the first openly gay politician with HIV elected in New York.
Cuomo first revealed the design a year ago.
As said at the unveiling, the monument honors ‘the LGBT community, those lost in the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016, and all victims of hate, intolerance and violence’.
New York commissioned Brooklyn artist Anthony Goicolea to create the piece.
It is located on the waterfront of the park, between West 12th Street and Bethune Street.
More than just about one person
Goicolea posted photos of the completed memorial on Facebook.
It consists of nine boulders in a circular pattern. Six of the boulders are bisected and bonded together again with glass.
The new memorial | Photo: Facebook/Anthony Goicolea
About the use of glass, Goicolea told Curbed: ‘Traditionally glass is something delicate and fragile, but here it is used to make the boulders stronger.’
When light hits the glass in certain ways, it reflects various colors, such as a rainbow.
The largest of the split six stones is empty in the middle. That’s because there’s a quote inscribed inside, as seen below.
The split stone | Photo: Facebook/Anthony Goicolea
The quote is by LGBTQ activist Audre Lorde and reads: ‘Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged…’
Goicolea also wanted to make sure his monument fit in its environment, and was more than just something to look at. Instead, people can walk around and through it, sit on the boulders, and feel connected.
‘The people who visit this memorial become a part of it, in a sense,’ he said. ‘This is more than just about one person.’
