Celebrating the life of one of New York’s most significant jazz musicians and composers, Charles Mingus, Tyrone Mitchell’s towering bronze sculpture portrays a chair on top of an elongated pedestal, floating “in the sky.” It is sited in a backdrop with another great work of public art, the Statue of Liberty. To Mitchell (b.1944, Savannah, Georgia), the chair refers to many aspects of African-American heritage, from Ghanian throne forms to the first “chair” in an orchestra to the name of a Mingus piece. He also considers the work to be an homage to the improvisational performer he so admires and a tribute to the significant impact that African-Americans have had on American culture. Text provided by Public Art Fund.
