Presented by Creative Time, Governors Island, and Times Square Arts, The American Manifest is Charles Gaines’s first public art project, unfolding in three parts over the course of two years across three sites — Times Square, Governors Island, and the banks of the Ohio river in Cincinnati. Featuring both performance and large-scale sculptural works, The American Manifest tells the complicated story of the over 400-year settlement of the United States, focusing on the country’s foundations of colonialism, racial capitalism, democracy, and the legacy of Manifest Destiny. Staged in three chapters, The American Manifest begins in Times Square with a performance-based installation and sculptural series of seven Sweetgum trees.
