Photo: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In honor of Pride Month, NYC Parks’ monuments crew provided annual care for George Segal’s Gay Liberation sculptural group commemorating the Stonewall Riots. The work is part of the 25th season of NYC Parks’ Citywide Monuments Conservation Program.
Today, NYC Parks conservators and seasonal apprentices cleaned and recoated the Gay Liberation figures using a special pigmented lacquer and wax formulation that preserves the artwork and its aesthetic. They also repainted the benches that are part of the artwork.
Dedicated on June 23rd, 1992, the monument by eminent artist George Segal commemorates the 1969 Stonewall Riots at the nearby Stonewall Inn, the birthplace of the Gay Pride movement. In 2016, Christopher Park and Gay Liberation were federalized as part of the Stonewall National Monument, becoming the first U.S. National Monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history.
Gay Liberation is one of many monuments throughout the five boroughs that received care this summer through NYC Parks’ Citywide Monuments Conservation Program (CMCP). CMCP is an award-winning public/private partnership launched in 1997 and supported by individual, corporate, and foundation grants. For more information, visit the website.
