Editing Central Park (section)

===Art and monuments===
====Sculptures====
{{Main|Public art in Central Park}}
[[File:Bethesda Fountain angel sunny winter day.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=Bethesda Fountain angel at the center of a brick plaza| ''Angel of the Waters'' (1873) in [[Bethesda Fountain]]]]
Twenty-nine sculptures have been erected within Central Park's boundaries.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2012/09/lives-remembered-in-the-statues-and-monuments-of-central-park/ |title=The Lives Behind the Statues and Monuments of Central Park|date=September 19, 2012|publisher=[[WNET]]|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029151528/http://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2012/09/lives-remembered-in-the-statues-and-monuments-of-central-park/|archive-date=October 29, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments|title=Central Park Monuments |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321195900/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments |archive-date=March 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of the sculptures were not part of the Greensward Plan, but were nevertheless included to placate wealthy donors when appreciation of art increased in the late 19th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=89–90}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=329–331}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=68–69}} Though Vaux and Mould proposed 26&nbsp;statues in the Terrace in 1862, these were eliminated because they were too expensive.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=329–331}} More sculptures were added through the late 19th&nbsp;century, and by 1890s, there were 24&nbsp;in the park.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=332}}

Several busts of authors and poets are on Literary Walk adjacent to the Central Park Mall.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}}{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=59}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/mall-literary-walk.html |title=The Mall and Literary Walk|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510085304/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/mall-literary-walk.html|archive-date=May 10, 2016}}</ref> Another cluster of sculptures, around the Zoo and Conservancy Water, are statues of characters from children's stories. A third sculpture grouping primarily depicts "subjects in nature" such as animals and hunters.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}}

Several sculptures stand out because of their geography and topography.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}} ''[[List of sculptures in Central Park#Fictional characters|Alice in Wonderland Margaret Delacorte Memorial]]'' (1959), a sculpture of [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|Alice]], is at [[Conservatory Water]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/13|title=Alice in Wonderland|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524032949/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/13|archive-date=May 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/05/06/archives/wonderland-to-be-dedicated.html |title=Wonderland' to Be Dedicated|date=May 6, 1959|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 19, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''Angel of the Waters'' (1873), by [[Emma Stebbins]], is the centerpiece of Bethesda Fountain;<ref name="Reynolds p. 322" />{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=329–331}} it was the first large public sculpture commission for an American woman<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/114|title=Bethesda Fountain|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417025700/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/114|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the only statue included in the original park design.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=329–331}} ''[[Statue of Balto|Balto]]'' (1925), a statue of [[Balto]], the sled dog who became famous during the [[1925 serum run to Nome]], is near East Drive and East 66th&nbsp;Street.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/75|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|title=Balto|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327195017/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/75|archive-date=March 27, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[King Jagiello Monument]]'' (1939), a bronze monument installed in 1945, is at the east end of [[Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park|Turtle Pond]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/13318 |work=Central Park Highlights|title=King Jagiello Monument|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628182325/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/13318 |archive-date=June 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Women's Rights Pioneers Monument]]'' (2020), a monument of [[Sojourner Truth]], [[Susan B. Anthony]], and [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hines|first=Morgan|date=August 26, 2020|title='We have broken the bronze ceiling': First monument to real women unveiled in NYC's Central Park|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/08/26/new-york-central-park-statue-womens-rights-pioneers-monument-up/5632949002/|access-date=August 26, 2020|website=[[USA Today]]|language=en-US}}</ref> was the city's first statue to depict a female historical figure.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kolodny|first=Sarah|title=First Statue of Real Women to Debut in Central Park in 2020|publisher=[[NBC New York]]|date=July 24, 2018|url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/First-Ever-Statue-Depicting-Real-Women-Coming-to-Central-Park-in-2020-489028501.html|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421001814/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/First-Ever-Statue-Depicting-Real-Women-Coming-to-Central-Park-in-2020-489028501.html|archive-date=April 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Central Park's first-ever female statue is coming in 2020|work=Time Out New York|date=July 24, 2018|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/central-parks-first-ever-female-statue-is-coming-in-2020-072418|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421001814/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/central-parks-first-ever-female-statue-is-coming-in-2020-072418|archive-date=April 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Structures and exhibitions====
[[File:Central Park New York May 2017 004.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=An obelisk named Cleopatra's Needle|[[Cleopatra's Needle (New York City)|Cleopatra's Needle]], the park's oldest human-made structure]]
[[Cleopatra's Needle (New York City)|Cleopatra's Needle]], a red [[granite]] [[obelisk]] west of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,<ref name="central-park-map"/> is the oldest human-made structure in Central Park.<ref name="Conservancy Obelisk">{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/obelisk.html |title=Obelisk|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424124927/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/obelisk.html|archive-date=April 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The needle in Central Park is one of three [[Cleopatra's Needle]]s that were originally erected at the Temple of [[Ra]] in [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] in [[Ancient Egypt]] around 1450&nbsp;BC by the [[Pharaoh]] [[Thutmose&nbsp;III]].<ref name="Conservancy Obelisk"/><ref>{{cite enc-nyc2|page=271}}</ref><ref name="Gray 2014">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/realestate/the-new-york-history-of-an-egyptian-obelisk.html |title=A Very Difficult Crosstown Move|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=May 29, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 7, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711010230/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/realestate/the-new-york-history-of-an-egyptian-obelisk.html|archive-date=July 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[hieroglyph]]s were inscribed about 200 years later by Pharaoh [[Rameses&nbsp;II]] to glorify his military victories. The needles are so named because they were later moved to in front of the [[Caesarium]] in [[Alexandria]], a temple originally built by [[Cleopatra&nbsp;VII]] of Egypt in honor of [[Mark Antony]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Frank Leslie's New York journal|volume=1–2|page=292|date=1855|hdl=2027/njp.32101074880459}}</ref> The needle in Central Park arrived in late 1880 and was dedicated early the following year.<ref name="Conservancy Obelisk"/><ref name="Gray 2014"/>

The [[Strawberry Fields (memorial)|Strawberry Fields memorial]], near Central Park West and 72nd&nbsp;Street,<ref name="central-park-map"/> is a memorial commemorating John Lennon, who was murdered outside the nearby [[The Dakota|Dakota]] apartment building. The city dedicated Strawberry Fields in Lennon's honor in April 1981,<ref>{{cite web|title=The City; Central Park Section To Honor Lennon|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=April 17, 1981|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/17/nyregion/the-city-central-park-section-to-honor-lennon.html|access-date=April 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414141700/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/17/nyregion/the-city-central-park-section-to-honor-lennon.html|archive-date=April 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the memorial was completely rebuilt and rededicated on what would have been Lennon's 45th&nbsp;birthday, October&nbsp;9, 1985.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dowd|first=Maureen|title=Strawberry Fields 'Garden Of Peace' Opens Today|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=October 9, 1985|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/09/nyregion/strawberry-fields-garden-of-peace-opens-today.html|access-date=April 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414141658/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/09/nyregion/strawberry-fields-garden-of-peace-opens-today.html|archive-date=April 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Countries from all around the world contributed trees, and Italy donated the "Imagine" mosaic in the center of the memorial. It has since become the site of impromptu memorial gatherings for other notables.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|title=Strawberry Fields|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html|access-date=August 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831091218/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html|archive-date=August 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/764|title=Imagine|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921000530/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/764|archive-date=September 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

For 16 days in 2005, Central Park was the setting for [[Christo and Jeanne-Claude]]'s installation ''[[The Gates]]'', an exhibition that had been planned since 1979.<ref name="Guggenheim 2003">{{cite web |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/13788|title=The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City. Drawing in 2 parts|date=December 1, 2002|publisher=[[Guggenheim Museum]]|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430220754/https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/13788|archive-date=April 30, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>  Although the project was the subject of mixed reactions, it was a major attraction for the park while it was open, drawing over a million people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/02/25/gates.closing/|title=Central Park's 'Gates' to close this weekend|date=February 25, 2005 |publisher=[[CNN]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406185322/http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/02/25/gates.closing/|archive-date=April 6, 2020|access-date=April 15, 2019}}</ref>