So technically the end of summer is September 21st, but everyone knows the end of summer, for all intents and purposes, is this weekend.
So how will you do it big for Labor Day Weekend? We have a suggestion.
Why not check out New York City's dope public art exhibits?
Especially because the time has never been more pertinent to do so, as many of these exhibits don't hit with the same bang or explode with such force in the middle of winter.
Some of them will even be gone by the time frigid and gusty winds roll around. You know you'll be out and about this weekend. So why not check out some art?
Find out where to go below.
1. Fata Morgana by Teresita Fernández (Madison Square Park)
veena_martini Lovely reflective art by Teresita Fernandez in Madison Sq Park #teresitafernandez #madisonsquarepark #madsqart #fatamorgana #publicart #nyc
Fata Morgana is made with 500 feet of canopies constructed with golden, mirror-polished discs that form canopies above Madison Square Park and around the Park's Oval Lawn.
Fernandez constructed her gorgeous installment to resemble Fata Morgana in nature; the horizontal mirage that springs up on the horizon line. As a result, Fernandez's project also features a shimmering horizontal line.
"Fata Morgana is a site-specific work designed for, and inspired by, Madison Square Park," said Fernández. "My concept was to invert the tradition notion of outdoor sculpture by addressing all of the active walkways of the Park rather than setting down a sculptural element in the Park's center."
The exhibit's metal forms are perforated with patterns inspired by foliage, and when the sunlight streams through, it casts a golden glow on the park and the passersby.
2. Please Touch the Art by Jeppe Hein (Pier 1 - Brooklyn Bridge Park)
nogophoto Friends with little ones in their lives, @PublicArtFund & @RockThatMuseumKid are teaming up for an #instachallenge! Head over to the @publicartfund feed for details. So excited to be tapping @missmillemaria for her #rockthatmuseumkid expertise.
Three bodies of work collide in Danish artist Jeppe Hein's Please Touch the Art, which will be on display in Brooklyn Bridge Park until April 17th, 2016.
But let's face it; who wants to frolic around in Brooklyn Bridge Park when it's freezing? The time to take in Hein's exhibit is now.
Hein's "Appearing Rooms" is a systematically changing installation with walls of water that create rooms that appear and disappear. Visitors can move from space to space as the water jets shoot upward, forming a room around the visitor, and then falling, removing the room from their midst.
"Mirror Labryinth NY" was made with equally spaced mirror planks arranged in three arcs to echo the Manhattan skyline.
Hein's also reinvented the park bench with his Modified Social Benches that turn the park bench into a lyrical and evocative subversion on the typical park bench.
3. Flow 15 by various artists (Randall's Island)
bronxmuseum Friday September 4, 6p http://www.flowartnyc.org/about take a tour of the #outdoorart installation #Flow15 on @randallsisland. The tour will feature #artwork by five artists in the #BronxCalling: The Third AIM Biennial currently on view at the #BronxMuseum. @smafoto Sharon Ma, hello, 2015. #nature #islandlife #urbanoasis #gardens #greenlife #secretgarden Sharon Ma creates works of art that combine elements of #photography, #archaeology, and #sculpture to show how people curate their lives and experiences. She compares the transience of human life to the ever-changing form of nature. Her works point at the human quest for immortality, the personalization of everyday things and their elevation into grandeur, and the evolving definition of self against shifting environments.
This summer's outdoor public sculpture on Randall's Island was crafted by Nicholas Fraser, Sharon Ma, Rob Swainston, Rica Takashima, and David J. Wilson.
Sharon Ma constructed a ten-foot-tall greeting intended to delight those who trek to Randall's Island over the 103rd Street bridge, as her sculpture reads "Hello."
Nicholas Fraser's "All Consuming" is a multi-purposed sculpture, which was intended to both point toward extinct cities and feed wildlife, as its signs were written in birdseed that was slowly consumed by wildlife over the course of the summer.
Since all the birdseed's been eaten, Fraser's signs now wordlessly point toward these extinct cities. Beside the exhibit, the East River slaps against the island.
4. Fictitious Force by Beka Goedde (Washington Park - Brooklyn)
gowanusstudio Beautiful weekend for the #fictitiousforce installation by @bekagoedde! Opening party May 13th, 6-8pm at The Old Stone House in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Beka Goedde constructed Fictitious Force by embedding nearly 1,000 colorful concrete tiles in the lawn of the Old Stone House and Washington Park.
Goedde and a team of volunteers arranged her piece in concentric circles to mirror an early American hooked or braided rug, and is intended to be walked on like paving stones.
"The work is built from about 2,000 pounds of material, and took 30 individuals three days to install; the project altogether has been taking shape for about three years," Goedde said.
Goedde laid her exhibit down at the historic site of the American Revolution because her work directly references traditional American craft. Fictitious Force is at once still and vibrant, echoing with the energy of the nearly 3,000 daily visitors to Washington Park.
,5. Frida Kahlo Art Garden Life (The New York Botanical Garden - the Bronx)
This rare display will feature more than a dozen of Kahlo's original paintings, as well as her keen appreciation for beauty and the variety of the natural world.
It also re-imagines Casa Azul, Frida Kahlo's lifelong home, garden and studio in Mexico City. The garden and studio's beauty is further amplified by the complex use of plant imagery in Kahlo's artwork.
This blockbuster exhibition will only be on display until November 1st at the New York Botanical Garden-- so get yourself there, will ya?
You can buy tickets here, and you should also get yourself out to Frida Al Fresco Evenings, which transport visitors to Mexico while remaining in New York. How? By using live music, performance art, cerveza, and Jose Cuervo Tradicional margaritas.
6. Time After Time Capsule by Sebastian Masuda (Dag Hammarskjold Plaza)
Time After Time is a nine-foot tall, see-through Hello Kitty. An integral aspect of this exhibit are the cavalcade of personal objects pushing against the kitty's feet.
Artist Sebastian Masuda spent the summer planning a series of children and family workshops and collaborating with the community to create colorful objects using personal items.
In 2020 at the Tokyo Olympics, Time After Time will be united with similar exhibits from Miami, Amsterdam, and future cities under consideration.
Masuda has been behind the empowerment of cute girl-and-youth culture since 1995 after the innovation of his artful and colorful concept shop in Tokyo. Masuda has made it his lifetime mission to encourage people to recall their childlike sense of wonder.
7.The Dance by DB Lampman (Tappen Park - Staten Island)
via NYC Parks
On display until September 14th on Staten Island's Tappen Park, The Dance was inspired by Henri Matisse's painting with the same name. It's is composed of five floating figures that whimsy fifteen feet above the ground.
The figures were formed with steel and wrapped in nylon, and the three hold and hands and dance within their steel rectangle. At night, they light up and shine on the trees nearby.
Lampman designed this installment to symbolize the merging together of the Staten Island community after Hurricane Sandy, as strangers dropped everything and joined people from around Staten Island and all over the world to help rebuild the community.
Lampman also foresaw the exhibit as a place for public dance and music performances by community members.
Did You Know There's a Skyscraper-Sized Pope Francis Mural in Midtown?
[via Instagram]