Theater News

New Art Installation at Times Square Visitors Center Celebrates Dance In New York

Jessica Daryl Winer at work on her mural"Curtain Call," which went on display at theTimes Square Visitors Center in 1999
Jessica Daryl Winer at work on her mural
"Curtain Call," which went on display at the
Times Square Visitors Center in 1999

The Times Square Visitors Center will soon feature an art installation celebrating dance. Created by local artist Jessica Daryl Winer, “Dancing on Air…in Times Square” is a collection of 18 pieces constructed from painted paper, canvas, and wire, suspended from above. The six-month exhibition opens on June 11 and may be viewed by the public during the Visitors Center’s regular hours, daily from 8am to 8pm.

While the exhibit is on display, another will be created before the public’s eyes: “Dance Floor” will capture the painted footprints of noted dancers and choreographers in motion on a 5×6 foot canvas. Tony Award-winner Karen Ziemba (formerly of Broadway’s Contact) will be the first to dance across the canvas on opening day of the exhibition.

Winer, known for basing her art on jazz, theater, opera, and dance subjects, previously painted the 25-foot “Curtain Call” mural which is on permanent display at the Times Square Visitors Center and which honors the greatest personalities of the Broadway tradition. Once completed, Winer’s “Dance Floor” canvas will be auctioned to benefit Career Transition For Dancers, a not-for-profit organization that aids professional dancers in the process of finding and training for new careers when dancing is no longer possible for them.