New Public is curating 'Chasing Rainbows', a major public art installation in New York City featuring the global premiere of two 30-foot-tall steel sculptures by London-based multimedia artist and award-winning filmmaker Charlotte Colbert. Installed across Flatiron NoMad and the Meatpacking District, the project marks Colbert’s first public art exhibition in the United States and New Public’s first large-scale commission internationally.

Presented in partnership with NYC Department of Transportation Art, Flatiron NoMad Partnership and the Meatpacking District Management Association, the installation activates two high-traffic pedestrian plazas with monumental contemporary sculpture. Positioned near the iconic Flatiron Building and at 14th Street Square in the Meatpacking District, the works engage directly with Manhattan’s architectural and cultural landscape.

In the Meatpacking District, ‘Where Angels Live’ takes the form of a towering, reflective steel tree adorned with votive-like charms inspired by relics, amulets, and talismans: objects imbued with meaning through collective belief. Situated within a neighbourhood defined by its various chapters, from an industrial origin to becoming a haven for the LGBTQIA+ community and transforming into a vibrant cultural destination that prioritises creative use of public space, the sculpture functions as a contemporary shrine, honouring what is unseen, remembered, and carried forward.

‘Dreamland Sirens’ rises in the Flatiron NoMad district as a single, watchful, dual-coloured eye supported by a column of tears. Referencing the act of dreaming and manifestation as a collective force, and the ancient symbolism of the sculpture reflects the surrounding city back onto itself, bridging inner vision and public space next to The Flatiron Building,

Installed around International Women’s Day, the project places female-centred monumental sculpture in historically male-dominated urban spaces - a deliberate curatorial gesture reinforcing visibility, authorship and symbolic re-inscription in the public realm.

By collaborating across two Business Improvement Districts and municipal partners, 'Chasing Rainbows' demonstrates how public art in NYC can drive visitation, support economic vitality and create inclusive civic experience.

Chasing Rainbows
10 March - 27 May, 2026

Charlotte Colbert (b. 1987)

‘Dreamland Sirens’ in Flatiron NoMad
Flatiron South Plaza
23rd St. and Broadway

‘Where Angels Live’ in the Meatpacking District
14th Street Square 
West 14th Street and Ninth Avenue

Charlotte Colbert has created a series of colouring sheets inspired by this project. These playful drawings invite audiences of all ages to engage with the artwork in their own creative way.

Download the colouring sheets and bring the project to life with your own colours.