Gay Liberatn by Gee Segal, 1992 « Whose Streets Our Streets

Contents:

• THE MAKG OF GEE SEGAL’S GAY LIBERATN
• GAY LIBERATN MONUMENT
• TEN QUEER REIMAGGS OF NEW YORK'S 'GAY LIBERATN MONUMENT'
• GAY LIBERATN
• DO NYC’S ‘GAY LIBERATN’ MONUMENT WHEWASH STONEWALL? THE NEW MM PROPOS REPLACEMENTS.
• ON THE ENDURG LEGACY OF “GAY LIBERATN,” A SCULPTURE BY GEE SEGAL (BA ’49)
• THE MAKG OF GEE SEGAL'S GAY LIBERATN.

THE MAKG OF GEE SEGAL’S GAY LIBERATN

Tled Gay Liberatn, the piece had taken twelve years to fd s tend home wh the triangle of Christopher Park Greenwich Village, jt across Christopher Street om what had been the Stonewall Inn. Cast whe bronze, the standg gay male uple and their lbian unterparts, who were seated on two park bench clud the posn, managed to ffle feathers of every stripe.

GAY LIBERATN MONUMENT

Prottg gays thought wrong bee only whe mols their early thirti had been employed, and the whe (albe Jewish) artist was straight (though the mols were all openly gay). Many non-gay crics didn’t want a public space to be occupied by a sculpture that allud to homosexualy, much ls a pictn of same-sex upl, while fully clothed, actually touchg one another. Dpe all the brouhaha, Gay Liberatn was eventually stalled as a permanent monument Christopher Park, wh a send stg set on the grounds of Stanford Universy Palo Alto, California.

TEN QUEER REIMAGGS OF NEW YORK'S 'GAY LIBERATN MONUMENT'

The sculpture has been nounced by some art historians and culture mavens as borg and “angly somber, ” and maligned by gay activists as too nservative a pictn of homosexual affectn. For many olr gay men and lbians, reprents their emergence om an earlier era when would have been impossible for two men or two women to engage the behavr the statu pict, however unrstated, even Greenwich Village.

GAY LIBERATN

For today’s gay and lbian young people, who may not be fully aware of the long history of our stggle for equaly and acceptance, ’s a public emblem of acknowledgement that we exist and belong. View all monuments NYC Parks, as well as temporary public art stallatns on our NYC Public Art Map and LiberatnHistoryThis sculpture by Gee Segal (1924–2000) honors the gay rights movement and memorat the events at the Stonewall Inn oppose this park that gave rise to the movement.

In 1966, closed for renovatns, and reopened the followg year as a private club known as Stonewall Inn - a bar and dance hall which, like numero lol tablishments, tered to the homosexual muny of Greenwich Village. Word of the raid and the ristance to soon spread, and the next day hundreds gathered to prott the crackdown and advote the legalizatn of gay bars. Further protts epted early July, and on July 27, a group of activists anized the first gay and lbian march, om Washgton Square to Stonewall.

A later, Peter Putnam (1927–1987), a wealthy arts patron om Louisiana and tstee of the Mildred Andrews Fund, missned the Gay Liberatn monument. Though Segal was not the first artist approached, he accepted the missn, which stipulated only that the work “had to be lovg and rg, and show the affectn that is the hallmark of gay people...

DO NYC’S ‘GAY LIBERATN’ MONUMENT WHEWASH STONEWALL? THE NEW MM PROPOS REPLACEMENTS.

The ial opposn and ranr which had greeted the project had subsid; the advent of AIDS, which had vastated the gay muny particular, add another poignant dimensn to the monument and s mute figur’ impact.

ON THE ENDURG LEGACY OF “GAY LIBERATN,” A SCULPTURE BY GEE SEGAL (BA ’49)

Click map for directnsClick image for larger viewGay Liberatn DetailsLotn: Adjog Sheridan Square, Christopher, Grove and Wt 4th StreetsSculptor: Gee SegalArchect: Philip N.

Wslow, ASLADcriptn: Group of four figur (two seated, two standg), two World's Fair-style bench, plaqueMaterials: Figur--bronze (whe lacquer); bench--steel (black pat)Dimensns: Group H: 5'11" W: 16' D: 7'6"; Each bench L: 16'; Plaque H: 7 5/8" W: 7 5/8"Cast: 1980Dedited: June 23, 1992Foundry: Johnson Atelier, Haton Township, NJDonor: Mildred Andrews FundInscriptn: GAY LIBERATION / BY / GEORGE SEGAL / BRONZE CAST -- 1980 / DEDICATED -- 1992 /---/ GIFT OF THE MILDRED ANDREWS FUND / TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK /Please note, the NAME field clus a primary signatn as well as alternate namgsoften mon or popular age. Though not owned by NYU, Gay Liberatn Monument is viewable near NYU's mp at 51-53 Christopher Street, and is a part of the Stonewall Natnal Monument. This sculpture by NYU Alum Gee Segal, (Stehardt BA '49) (1924–2000) honors the gay rights movement and memorat the events at the Stonewall Inn oppose this park that gave rise to the movement.

"When I thk about the Gay Liberatn Monument at Christopher Street Park I thk of silence… And I thk about the failure to memorialize the liv of the victims of stutnal abe on our own terms.

THE MAKG OF GEE SEGAL'S GAY LIBERATN.

As LGBTQ issu beme hot topics polil and social jtice throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s, Segal and those who missned the work met great ristance om lol rints (namely olr Italian Catholics om the surroundg neighborhood), polil officials, and even some gays and lbians who were angry that the art piece wasn’t ma by a member of the muny. As the cy of New York and the anizatns rponsible for approvg the piece fought over Gay Liberatn’s future, Segal stalled another versn at Stanford Universy Palo Alto, CA.