When I was little, visits to New York City Ballet included elaborate routines my sister and I choreographed in the lobby during intermission. I was struck by the sculptural relief—somewhere between a giant archeological face and a spaceship entering a black hole—hanging to the right of the entrance, past the ushers. Lee Bontecou’s artwork stretches more than 20 feet and is made, in part, from a World War II fighter plane cockpit found downtown on Canal Street. Bontecou used to watch planes taking off and landing for inspiration. The work might at first seem a strange match for the home of ethereal ballet. But in its own way, a plane’s feat of flight is as unbelievable as a dancer’s.

Submitted by Prudence Peiffer, Managing Editor, Creative Team