Vince Davenport: Chief Engineer and Director of Construction
Jonita Davenport: Project Director.

After Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of New York City, announced, on January 22, 2003, that a contract had been signed permitting New York artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude to realize their temporary work of art: The Gates, Central Park, New York, 1979-2005, the fabrication of all the materials was started. The installation, at the site in Central Park, was completed with the blooming of the 7,500 fabric panels on February 12, 2005.

The 7,500 gates, 16 feet  (4,87 meters) tall varying in width from 5 feet 6 inches to 18 feet (1,68 to 5,48 meters) according to the 25 different widths of walkways, on  23 miles (37 kilometers) of walkways in Central Park. Free hanging saffron colored fabric panels, suspended from the horizontal top part of the gates, come down to approximately 7 feet (2,13 meters) above the ground. The gates are spaced at 12 foot (3,65 meter) intervals, except where low branches extend above the walkways. The gates and the fabric panels can be seen from far away through the leafless branches of the trees. The work of art will remain for 16 days, then the gates will be removed and the materials will be recycled.

The 5 inch (12,7 cm) square vertical and horizontal poles have been extruded in 60 miles (96,5 km.) of saffron colored vinyl. The vertical poles are secured by 15,000 narrow steel base footings, 613-837 pounds (278-380 kilograms) each, positioned on the paved surfaces. No holes were made in the ground.

The off-site fabrication of the gates components were purchased from seven manufacturers located on the East Coast of the USA. The weaving and sewing of the fabric panels was done in Germany.

In teams of eight, 600 workers wearing The Gates uniforms, were responsible for installing 100 gates per team. The monitoring and removal teams will include an additional 300 uniformed workers. The monitors will assist  the public and give information. All workers are financially compensated and receive one hot meal a day. Professional security will work in the park after dark.

As Christo and Jeanne-Claude have always done for their previous projects, The Gates is entirely financed by the artists through their C.V.J. Corp, (Jeanne-Claude Javacheff, President) with the sale of preparatory studies, drawings, collages, and scale models, earlier works of the fifties and sixties, and original lithographs on other subjects.

The artists do not accept sponsorship or donations.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude have donated the merchandising rights to the charitable foundation NNYN (Nurture New York’s Nature and the Arts) who are sharing the proceeds with The Central Park Conservancy.

The grid pattern of the city blocks surrounding Central Park is reflected in the rectangular structure of the commanding saffron colored poles while the serpentine design of the walkways and the organic forms of the bare branches of the trees is mirrored in the continuously changing rounded and sensual movements of the free flowing fabric panels in the wind.

The people of New York continue to use the park as usual.

For those who walk through The Gates, following the walkways, the saffron colored fabric  is a golden ceiling creating warm shadows  When seen from the buildings surrounding Central Park, The Gates  seem like a golden river appearing and disappearing through the bare branches of the trees and highlighting the shape of the meandering footpaths.

Some of the materials:

• 5,290 US Tons of steel (4,799 Metric Tons) (10,580,000 pounds) (equal to 2/3 the steel in the Eiffel Tower) for 15,000 specially designed steel footing weights, varying between 615 and 837 pounds each, according to the width of the gate, (279 - 379 Kg.). Gates vary in width because there are 25 different widths of walkways in Central Park. The weights are resting on the hard surface of the walkways. There were no holes in Central Park.

• 315,491 linear feet (60 miles) (96.5 Km.) of Vinyl tube, 5 inch x 5 inch square, (12,7 x 12,7 cm.) extruded in saffron color, recyclable, specially designed, (for each gate: 2 vertical 16 feet long (4,87 meter), and one horizontal (varying between 6 and 18 feet, because the width of the walkways varies)

• 15,000 specially designed, recyclable, cast aluminum upper corner reinforcements which hold together the 2 vertical poles to the horizontal pole.

• 15,000 base anchor sleeves. Which will be bolted to the steel footing weights.

• 15,000 (1/2 inch x 8 inch x 8 inch) (1.27 x 22,8 x 22,8 cm.) steel leveling plates. The leveling plate is between the base anchor sleeve and the steel base, it has a pivoting bolt which will ensure the perfect verticality of the poles, even when the walkways are inclined.

• 165,000 bolts and self locking nuts. (7,500 x 22)

• 15,000 (8 x 8 x 8 inch) (22,8 x 22,8 x 22,8 cm.) Vinyl leveling plate covers, to hide the bolts.

• 116,389 miles (187,311 Km.) of nylon thread to be extruded in saffron color and specially woven into 1,067,330 square feet (99,155 square meters) of recyclable, rip-stop fabric, and then shipped to the sewing factory to be cut and sewn into 7,500 fabric panels of various widths. 46 miles (74 Km.) of hems.

The Gates will remain in Central park for 16 days, then the removal will start on February 28, 2005..


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• Is The Gates on schedule?
• What kind of delays are possible?
• What are the chances of delays?
• If The Gates do not unfurl on schedule, how long will the artwork be in place?
• Are there any opening events planned?
• Why only 16 days?
• What is the best part of Central Park for The Gates?
• What is the exact schedule of the unfurling?
• Can I volunteer to help with The Gates?
• Can I purchase a "gate" or fabric after the installation?
• Are samples of The Gates fabric available?
• Are Christo and Jeanne-Claude holding signing events?
• Are maps available?
• What are the other products, who gets the money from them?

Is The Gates on schedule?
The artwork is actually ahead of schedule. This information is current. There are several overlaps or redundancies built into the schedule to insure, as much as is possible, that The Gates will unfurl on February 12, 2005.
The Gates FAQ

What kind of delays are possible?
Christo and Jeanne-Claude are creating a work of joy and beauty, and this joy should extend to their workers. Christo and Jeanne-Claude have no wish to punish their workers with inclement weather. A gentle rainfall or a gentle snowfall are fine. Storms will suspend work. Scheduling allows for this possibility.
The Gates FAQ

What are the chances of delays?
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have performed political, technical and financial miracles to create all their projects, including The Gates, but they have no power over Mother Nature and the weather. They trust that their planning and care will find The Gates arriving as a baby does, showing up in it's own beloved time, when it is ready.
The Gates FAQ

If The Gates do not unfurl on schedule, how long will the artwork be in place?
Whenever the baby arrives, it will be in place until February 27. On February 28, 2005 disassembly and removal begin.
The Gates FAQ

Are there any opening events planned?
There are no ceremonies or similar events planned by the artists for any of their projects. The Gates is something of an event in its own right. The park is freely open to all.
The Gates FAQ

Why only 16 days?
The artists' major projects are all temporary works of art. The Gates will be in place for longer than most. Major works such as Running Fence and Wrapped Reichstag were up for 14 days, not the 16 days of The Gate's life. Christo and Jeanne-Claude extended it to 16 days, which includes 3 weekends, because New York City is their home.

That term, The Gate's life, is a very important part of this choice.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude regard this all their artworks as babies, created jointly in love, that come into the world with their own strengths and frailties, living things that are cherished.

Their short life-spans creates a preciousness and an urgency, encouraging us to bear witness and drink in the art as much as we can, while we can, all the while knowing it may well be gone the next time we visit the site -- in this case Central Park.

Our memories of this experience are how the artwork changes us -- perhaps the most powerful force of art, that the changes made are not in the site, but in us.

What is the best part of Central Park for The Gates?
The entire park is the work of art. The Gates are distributed over walkways from park border to park border, the entire thing. Please keep in mind, there are 7,500 separate gates. No part of the park has more or less of them. If you plan to be any where in Central Park, you will be in the best part of the artwork.
The Gates FAQ

What is the exact schedule of the unfurling?
There is no exact itinerary, no exact schedule of the unfurling. Many dozens of crews will be working in many dozens of sites to unfurl the fabric the morning of February 12 (weather permiting). It is not an all-at-once event. It is construction. We have no idea how long it will take. No one has ever done this before.

The artwork is not the process of unfolding the fabric, but rather the sum total one experiences by exploring Central Park once The Gates are unfurled. Every person’s exploration will be different. That is why the artists say whatever part of the park you are in is the best part of The Gates.

The artists will be exploring it along with you, and can offer no path except the one you take.
The Gates FAQ

Can I volunteer to help with The Gates?
There are never any volunteers at any Christo and Jeanne-Claude artworks. Everyone is a paid worker. The exception was Jeanne-Claude's late mother who used a parent's prerogative to refuse payment.

Paying workers is very much a part of Christo and Jeanne-Claude's aesthetic. (See the Frequent Questions section of the web site.) However, there are volunteer positions available with the Park and The City of New York.

• Park Greeter:
  Greet visitors in designated areas of the Park, answering questions and handing out informational maps.
• Counter:
  Assist at various Park entrances, greeting and counting visitors as they arrive.
• Survey Taker:
  Assist the counter by collecting pertinent data and information from visitors.
• Visitor Center Greeter:
  Assist visitors from one of three visitor centers.

Volunteers will work two-hour shifts between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm., mostly outdoors in the Park. Orientation sessions will be given in January.

Your assistance will be a great contribution and will ultimately benefit the public's enjoyment and appreciation of Central Park.

To sign up to volunteer click here.

Again these are volunteer positions with the Park and City and not with Christo and Jeanne-Claude whose hiring is complete. Thank you kindly for offering your services.
The Gates FAQ

Can I purchase a "gate" or fabric after the installation?
Separate "gates" and their components are not available to anyone and there are reasons that emerge from Christo and Jeanne-Claude's aesthetic for this. The Gates and their components will be industrially recycled.

The work of art in The Gates is the entire environment, in this case Central Park and its surrounding environs. To experience the artwork, one immerses oneself into that environment. Each separate "gate" would be merely a relic of the artwork and not a work of art. Seven thousand, five hundred structures together in Central Park IS a work of art.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude wish to reverse the relationship in art between artwork and relic. Christo's preparatory works, predict what a Christo and Jeanne-Claude work of art will look and feel like.

All the materials from Christo and Jeanne-Claude's artworks are industrially recycled. This makes sure relics are not scattered about the place, looking into the past. Also, disassembly and recycling is environmentally sound.
The Gates FAQ

Are samples of The Gates fabric available?
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have purchased 1,000,000 swatches of the fabric specially woven for The Gates. They will be given to park visitors, on a first-come first-serve basis, by the uniformed monitors employed by the artists.
The Gates FAQ

Are Christo and Jeanne-Claude holding signing events?
Yes, they are.
Since these locations are book stores, Christo and Jeanne-Claude will be signing books.
• Friday, Feb. 18, 7PM - at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Book Shop
• Friday, Feb. 25, 4:45PM - at The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Gates FAQ

Are maps available?
Maps of The Gates will be offered for sale by the Central Park Conservancy. Christo and Jeanne-Claude receive no revenues whatever from the sale of the maps, nor from other merchandise inspired by The Gates.
The Gates FAQ

What are the other products, who gets the money from them?
Christo and Jeanne-Claude have donated all merchandising rights from The Gates to Nurture New York's Nature (associated with the Carriage House Center for Global Issues Foundation), and to The Central Park Conservancy.

Hand-signed posters of The Gates are sold by NNYN. Christo and Jeanne-Claude gave the rights to sell posters as a part of this gift. All the funds go to NNYN. Click here to see their web site.

Christo and Jeanne-Claude do not receive any revenue whatever from the sales of any article based on this gift of posters and merchandising rights.

The Gates FAQ
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