Sarah Sze & the Art of the Pitch

By
Lauren Harris
September 20, 2024

Visual Arts Professor Sarah Sze played an integral role during the New York Mets’s 7-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox last Tuesday night. The evening kicked off with a flourish as Professor Sze threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and the first 15,000 attendees received a baseball cap featuring a fragmented blue-and-orange globe designed by Sze.

Man wearing black baseball cap.

This game was the final installment of the Mets's Artist Series initiative, where the team swapped traditional bobblehead giveaways for unique items created by prominent contemporary New York based artists. Earlier in the season, fans received a beach tote bag by artist and former art dealer Joel Mesler, and bucket hats designed by Rashid Johnson.

The idea for this artistic giveaway series emerged from a 2022 ballpark visit organized by Mets owner Steve Cohen, a noted art collector. Cohen, along with artists like Johnson, Mesler, and Jeff Koons, watched a game from the executive suite. During this visit, discussions about Cohen’s extensive art collection and New York’s role as a global art hub led to the concept of incorporating art into fan giveaways. Cohen’s daughter, Sophie, who is a seasoned art advisor and curator, played a key role in developing the project. She thought Sze was the perfect fit for this opportunity as she beautifully embodies what it means to be a New Yorker.

Woman in baseball jersey on the pitcher's mound of a baseball field throwing a baseball.

Sze, renowned for her intricate collections that explore themes such as history, technology, and memory, is best known for her large-scale installations like the 2022 piece at LaGuardia Airport, Shorter than the Day. The Mets cap’s fragmented globe design echoes this installation’s theme of interconnectedness.

A notable aspect of this initiative was that each artist selected a charity to benefit from the project instead of receiving a commission. Johnson, for instance, chose the Brooklyn-based nonprofit the Laundromat Project, which supports community-based artistic projects and local artists.

Sophie Cohen emphasized that these giveaways help make art more accessible to the public. While the artist’s work is out of reach for most of the public, the Mets Artist Series helps to make art attainable for all walks of life.