Robert Lugo’s Colossal Ode to Puerto Rico Rises in Madison Square Park
Artist Roberto (Robert) Lugo unveiled a two-part public monument to Puerto Rican culture in Madison Square Park, Manhattan, on Wednesday, May 20, commissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy. The installation, titled “Alfarero del Barrio (Village Potter),” includes a monumental urn, “Capicú de Cariño (I Heard It Both Ways),” painted with portraits of Lugo’s parents Maribel and Gilberto Lugo and figures such as Bad Bunny, Sonia Sotomayor, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, plus a separate 15-foot-tall orange fire hydrant sculpture, “Para Los Días Caliente (This Is For The Hot Ones).” Lugo said the works draw on memories of Philadelphia summers and reframe ceramic traditions to center everyday and immigrant experiences rather than aristocratic subjects. The sculptures are timed to the United States’ 250th anniversary and will remain on view through December 6.
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This story was covered in Monuments, Money, and Museums on the Brink