Blooming by Elizabeth Murray is a 120-foot long mosaic located in Manhattan’s 59th St. station mezzanine. It’s a dreamy representation of putting on one’s shoes and drinking a cup of coffee to get ready for the morning commute to work.
The text reads “in dreams begin responsibilities” and “conduct your blooming in the noise and discipline of the whirlwind,” excerpted from the poetry of Gwendolyn Brooks and Delmore Schwartz. The title and the trees refer to the fact that this neighborhood was once called Bloomingdale, even before the arrival of the department store.
Small-scale mosaics in the stairwells echo the mezzanine installation.
Elizabeth Murray was born in Chicago and educated in Chicago and Oakland. Blooming was completed in 1996. In 2005, she was only the fourth woman to receive a single-artist retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. She passed away in 2007.
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Very much enjoyed surfing this post…thankx!
Never had the pleasure of seeing this mosaic…
will put it on my “to do” list during my next NYC adventure.
Years ago, while I was living in Crooklyn, I met Ms. Murray on the steps of the Met. I was hangin’ with my then rommie who had done some work for her. She
was kind & warm to me….1 neat lady! The art world suffered a true loss when she passed.
Oh, wow! To be perfectly honest, when I first saw it, this project seemed sort of benign and cheery but not necessarily that interesting. Once I read about the artist and realized how ground-breaking her career was, this mosaic became much more interesting to me.
Love the colors! Thanks so much for sharing!