SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE: With a Beam of Light, the New York City AIDS Memorial Honors the Nearly Forgotten Legacy of This Great American Sculptor

A new sculpture honoring the life and work of Scott Burton—one of America’s most influential 20th-century sculptors, whose art offered both beauty and utility—is set to open to the public this week at the New York City AIDS Memorial in Manhattan.

The sculpture, Eternal Flame for Scott Burton, designed by contemporary artist Oscar Tuazon, is a reimagination of Burton’s final commissioned series: a set of benches, lights, weathervanes and ottomans designed for the Sheepshead Bay Piers in Brooklyn. The pieces, made from steel and wood beginning in the 1980s, were configured in thick shapes convenient for sitting and public engagement, two signature elements of Burton’s artworks.