The ‘Gates’ Are Back 20 Years Later, This Time Virtually

In 2005, my children stood amidst our city’s buzzworthy attraction, The Gates, Central Park, New York City, unclear as to why the area was decorated in “Nickelodeon” orange.

Twenty years later, they’ll finally be able to appreciate the groundbreaking work of the late artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude with the return of the work to Central Park the way they and everyone else goes through life now—via phone.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates and Unrealized Projects for New York City will be along marked paths with “recalibration” stations from East 72nd Street and 5th Avenue to Cherry Hill at West 72nd Street.

Straus Media was given a preview of this 20th-anniversary tribute, and, as in 2005, it’s not to be missed.

The presentation began at The Shed, on West 30th Street, where Meredith “Max” Hodges, Shed CEO, reminded us that “In so many ways, the work of Christo and Jeanne-Claude lights the way for our aspirations. The Gates was massive in scale and in spectacle. It issued a broad invitation to all of NYC to encounter and experience art. The Gates was a new form of public art: inventive, immersive, awe-inspiring.”

He cited “the visionary leadership of Mike Bloomberg, who approved the project two decades after the artists first proposed it to New York City, because he understood the power of great public art.”

Patti Harris, CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies, added, “I think it’s fair to say that The Gates was an unforgettable moment for everyone who experienced it. It brought new awareness of how public art can transform cities by bringing people together and reshape how we see our surroundings. On Feb. 12, 2005, 7,503 saffron-colored ‘gates’ weaved across 23 miles of pathways in Central Park, surely one of the most amazing, striking, innovative works of public art in New York City history. It was on display for 16 days, and the response from the public exceeded even our greatest expectations. Four million people came to Central Park in the dead of winter, more than triple the usual number of the park’s visitors, and they generated more than $250 million in economic activity, a big boost to the city’s economy.” 


She continued: “The Gates also had an impact far beyond what we could measure. This was just a few years after 9/11, and for the first time since the attacks our city was back on the front pages of newspapers globally, not about a tragedy, but about a celebration about creativity and life. Now, 20 years later, after Christo and Jeanne-Claude pulled off the seemingly impossible, we have the technology to help a new generation experience The Gates in Central Park, powered by Bloomberg Connects.”

The nephew of Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Vladimir Yavachev, who has been involved in all of their major projects for the past 30-plus years, commented on the “very ambitious augmented reality project by calling it “the first of its kind” and reminding us that with “the technology today, it is amazing what you can do.”

The exhibition at The Shed, located at 545 W. 30th St., is a retrospective of the 2005 experience, with The Gates photos, drawings, a small-scale model of the Harlem Meer portion of the park exhibit, and memorabilia.

There is also a separate room with some of the unrealized projects of the artists, such as the wrapping of the Whitney Museum and 1 Times Square as though they’re presents or mummies (take your pick).

Then at Central Park, with the Bloomberg Connects app downloaded, the real experience began.

The exhibit is broken into a series of segments, each with a vertical calibration station with QR codes. You must recalibrate at each post. There will be guides with smocks that say The Gates to help the tech-challenged.

Even though the path before you is clear, your phone will tell a different story. You’ll see The Gates as they were in 2005 and you’ll walk through them once again.

There are 15 stations throughout the experience.

The Central Park tour was guided by David Harding, Head of Product and Engineering for Bloomberg Connects, who said: “This is one of the most ambitious and larger-scale experiences of its type. To be able to place these [recalibration stations] specifically in a challenging environment, it’s really special, and to be able to re-create where they were [originally] placed using really advanced technologies, that can grab you. It’s cutting-edge. Definitely on the forefront of the technology.”

The exhibit is curated by Pascal Roulin and presented in partnership with the Christo and Jeanne-Claude Foundation, with support from Bloomberg Philanthropies. Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app, features bespoke audio, video, and text content about both the exhibition and other works at The Shed, a cultural institution of and for the 21st century, producing and welcoming innovative art and ideas across all forms of creativity. The ambitious digital component was developed by technology studios Dirt Empire, Pixels Pixels, and Superbright. Christo and Jeanne-Claude called New York their home from 1964 until their deaths in 2020 and 2009, respectively.

“Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Gates and Unrealized Projects for New York City” at The Shed, 545 W. 30th St., Feb. 12 to March 23, 2025. Tickets to the exhibition available now at theshed.org/gates.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is the author of three novels, most recently “The Last Single Woman in New York City.”