The city of Jersey City has a thriving art community. Public displays of artistic talent are seen all over the Heights. From the statues at Leonard Gordon Park, to the expansive building murals throughout the Heights, to the decorated utility boxes, a simple stroll through the Heights can turn into a wonderful cultural experience.
“Wave”
The “Wave” (pictured right) is located in Hudson County’s Washington Park at the intersection of Central Avenue and Paterson Plank Road. Created by noted artist Chakaia Booker, a Jersey native, the brushed stainless steel sculpture piece stands 14 feet high and 35 feet wide.
World War I memorial statue Dough Boy
On November 9, 1930, the Hudson City Soldiers and Sailors Welfare League, Inc. placed a World War I memorial statue Dough Boy in the Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park at Jersey City Heights, developed during the “City Beautiful” movement.
Buffalo and Bears
The Dr. Leonard J. Gordon Park at Jersey City Heights is best known for the larger than life 1907 sculptures of Buffalo and Bears,a sculpture featuring the American animals, a buffalo and a bear, by Solon Hannibal Borglum. Borglum’s brother, Gutzon, is the noted sculptor of Mount Rushmore and the statue of Abraham Lincoln in front of the Essex County Court House in Newark.
The park was developed during the “City Beautiful” movement. The Jersey City Charter Company owned the undeveloped hillside woodland site with stone boulders and sold it to Jersey City for $46,000 on September 19, 1907. The 5.7 acre park was designed by the landscape architect John T. Withers, appointed by Mayor H. Otto Wittpenn, who left much of the rocky terrain as he found it.
“America Triumphant”
Found in Pershing Field, the “America Triumphant” monument stands in front of the Vietnam Veterans Community Center. Designed by sculptor James S. J. Novelli, the statue was originally unveiled on July 4, 1922 in memory of the 147 Hudson City residents who gave their lives in World War I.
Henry Hudson Bust
Antonio Schaff’s gilded concrete sculptural bust of Henry Hudson sits atop a concrete base in Jersey City Heights’ Riverview Fisk Park.