25 years in the planning husband and wife team Christo and Jean Claude's project for New York's Central Park has opened to public on Saturday Feb 12. The project consists of 7500 'gates' -steel portals 16 feet high with saffron colored vinyl- lining 23 miles of pathways in Central Park.The project for Central Park had been in the works for a quarter of a century until 2003 when the city finally approved the commision.The $21 million cost was covered completely by the artists as with their previous works. In an interview for Public Television Jean-Claude defined the purpose of the project as "pure joy".

Joseph Ristuccia, 73, "It's like getting bathed in saffron," he said. "I like all the people here having such a good time. It's like a convention of Hare Krishnas."
"It's mind-blowing, like a Jimi Hendrix experience," said Mike Timko, 53, who came to see "The Gates" with his wife and daughter.

The canvas is one of the most revered pieces of real estate in the country: 800 acres of urban oasis that is now threaded with 7,500 gates -- each suspending a free-flowing, shimmering, saffron-colored flag. "I have unstoppable urge to do this project. The absolutely irrational, irresponsible, with not any justification," Christo
"It's only the gates. A work of art of joy and beauty. We do not build messages. We do not build symbols. It's only a work of art. Nothing else." Jeanne-Claude.

In a gallery below the studio is where they welcome rich collectors, who buy and buy and buy Christo's drawings. The drawings are the couple's lifeblood – it’s how they finance their projects. The largest drawings can go for half a million dollars. They also sell scores of smaller ones, bringing in millions.
"We are not different from all the other artists. They create art. It is sold. The artist gets the money," Jeanne-Claude. "With the money, the artist purchase whatever they please. We do exactly the same, only what pleases us is to purchase 5,000 tons of steel, 60 miles of vinyl poles."

In a vast warehouse outside Manhattan, they assembled the mountain of materials needed to build the gates: 22,500 poles, 165,000 bolts, 7,500 panels of fabric. It’s art on an industrial scale, with an industrial-size price tag of $20 million -- every penny of it coming out of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s pocket. Not a nickel is accepted from taxpayers, donors, or corporate sponsors.

This week, armies of paid workers spread out around the park, anchoring the gates to 600-pound steel plates. The sheer weight makes the gates untippable and unstealable. More than one million square feet of vinyl in, as some of spectators said, color of Dalai Lama, and 5,300 tones of steel were used for installing the unprecedented open-air gallery. Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude said that they didn’t put any hidden message in it and just wanted to refresh the perception of audience and share the feeling of wonder which is always expected from the great artworks.

Most artists receive Grants, Foundation money and produce commissioned works of art for an Art Patron – Christo and Jeanne-Claude do not accept those. They have never accepted sponsorship of any kind, because they value their Freedom most of all. Also they never create a work in collaboration with other artist, nor do they accept the ideas of others for the choice of a site for their work. The search for freedom is the reason why Christo escaped from his native country Bulgaria, at age 21, while it was under Communist rule. Christo and Jeanne-Claude will never allow any kind of "strings attached." They refuse all commercial involvement – at any price.

When the drapes came tumbling down, New York’s village green was transformed from the Upper East Side clear up to Harlem. And something else happened, too. Those jaded New Yorkers who thought they’d seen it all were giddy with what Christo and Jeanne-Claude had done to their backyard.

Christo and Jean Claude are known for their large scale environmental works, most notably the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin, skirts around islands off the Florida coast, and the Valley Curtain in Colorado.

"The Gates," which can be viewed throughout the park, will remain until Feb. 28.

For further information about the artists visit them on the web www.christojeanneclaude.net