Queen Mother of Reality\u00a0by Pawe\u0142 Althamer is a monumental, mixed media sculpture of an elegant figure that is peacefully reclining in the shaded southern section of the park overlooking the East River waterfront. Althamer\u2019s sculpture is dedicated to and inspired by \u201cQueen Mother\u201d Dr. Delois Blakely, a U.S. Ambassador of Goodwill to Africa,who has been the Community Mayor of Harlem since she was sworn in by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 1995.\u00a0Queen Mother of Reality\u00a0serves as a call to highlight the numerous displaced and homeless of New York City \u2013 Dr. Blakely’s\u00a0paramount cause.<\/p>\n
Originally built as a part of Althamer’s Performa Commission in 2013,\u00a0Queen Mother of Reality\u00a0at Socrates Sculpture Park acts as a platform for creative dialogue and interactive programming, reflecting the park’s commitment to engaging audiences through public art. This spring the sculpture was reassembled by Althamer and his collaborators – a team of artists and community members, including artists Noah Fischer, Roman Sta\u0144czak, Rafal Zwirek, Jim Costanzo (aka the Aaron Burr Society),\u00a0Brian Fernandes-Halloran, and Eric Gottshall, as well as the artist’s sons Bruno Althamer and Szymon Althamer.<\/p>\n
Continuing Althamer’s commitment to social collaboration, which underlines most of his work, Socrates and the artist are programming workshops, events, and talks throughout the summer that invoke Dr. Blakely\u2019s pursuits of social justice and community building.\u00a0The sculpture is situated in the midst of an active community. The park is surrounded by three of the nation’s largest public housing complexes (Astoria, Ravenswood, and Queensbridge Houses), and the local community has been a park stakeholder since its creation in 1986.
\nApril 25 & 26 \u2013\u00a0EARTH DAY EVENT
\nPartnership for Parks and Socrates\u2019 own horticulture team led high school and middle school volunteers as they planted vegetables, herbs, and flowers throughout the Socrates Sculpture Park. The group also designed and planted around Queen Mother of Reality, which remains on view with the sculpture.
\nSunday, May 11 \/\/ 2-6pm \u2013\u00a0OPENING MOTHERS DAY EVENT
\nThis Art-making workshop for kids and families was led by the Minor Miracles Foundation and focused on the celebration of Mothers and families. Artworks created in this workshop remain on view inside of Queen Mother of Reality
\nSunday, May 11 \/\/ all day –\u00a0NAILS ACROSS AMERICA
\nArtist\u00a0http:\/\/www.nailsacrossameri.ca\/” noreferrerBrianne Trammel\u00a0provided free manicures for local mothers from the Astoria Housing Projects inside of her traveling social salon.
\nSunday, May 11th\u00a0 \u2013\u00a0DEDICATION BLESSING by QUEEN MOTHER DR. DELOIS BLAKELY
\nSaturday, May 17th\u00a0\/\/ 11am-2:30pm \u2013\u00a0UN FORUM ON\u00a0INDIGENOUS\u00a0PEOPLES
\nA tour, lunch and ceremony lead by Queen Mother Delois Blakely with members of the United Nations Forum on Indigenous Peoples.
\nSaturday, June 7th\u00a0\u2013\u00a0FOOD PROGRAM
\nLead by Queens Action Committee, this delicious event focused on healthy nutrition and the local food landscape through discussions and cooking instructions, alongside Socrates\u2019 weekly\u00a0<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":6401,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"exhibition-theme":[],"class_list":["post-6400","artwork","type-artwork","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/socratessculpturepark-2026.kudos.nyc\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artwork\/6400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/socratessculpturepark-2026.kudos.nyc\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artwork"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/socratessculpturepark-2026.kudos.nyc\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/artwork"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socratessculpturepark-2026.kudos.nyc\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/socratessculpturepark-2026.kudos.nyc\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"exhibition-theme","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socratessculpturepark-2026.kudos.nyc\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition-theme?post=6400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}