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Clint Ramos has grown accustomed to New Yorkers griping about the 10-foot disco ball in the center of Lincoln Center Plaza. After first hanging the 1,300-pound mirror ball in 2022, the producer, visual director, set and costume designer says, “I heard so much from New Yorkers. It was all, ‘What are you doing? What are you doing to the sacred fountain?’” Still, the disco ball came back for the next three years, becoming a fixture of Lincoln Center’s “Summer for the City” event series, which Ramos oversees visually.
This year, though, Ramos is changing things up a bit. “When I took away the mirror ball this year, of course, the first thing I’ve heard was ‘What did you do? What’s going on?”’ he says.
The theme of this year’s decor is the natural world. To start, Ramos hung light, loose fabric on a structure overhead, resulting in an effect that he compares to shifting and moving sand. For each event on the “Dance Floor,” as the Josie Robertson Plaza is known for the summer, the lighting team projects bright colors above to reflect the mood below. “We are doing lots of dance programming this summer, and sand constantly moves, so it almost feels like the ‘sand’ is dancing with the people below,” Ramos says. Plus, “there’s this beautiful shifting of the ‘sand,’ which I see as acknowledging time passing, adding to the artistry of the dance.”
Lawrunce Sumulong
The Hearst Plaza, where glowing lights emerge from a fountain.
Ramos, who won a 2016 Tony Award for the costume design in Eclipsed, brings a vibrancy and liveliness to all of his projects. As Lincoln Center’s current Artist in Residence, he oversees design for each of the summer spaces on the grounds, and has been collaborating on Summer for the City since its inception.
The annual three-month program aims to bring more people to Lincoln Center, as all events are free or pay-what-you-choose. Each year, the festivities transform large swaths of Lincoln Center, including Josie Robertson Plaza, Hearst Plaza, and David Geffen Hall, hosting classes, silent discos, dance and music performances, and more.
Hearst Plaza, on the north side of the complex, usually features a staid, dark pond for reflection. This summer, Ramos has filled the water with glowing gold bars topped with light bulbs that evoke lily pads, cattails, and even rice paddies. “It’s a sea of sparkling lights,” Ramos says. “And then we’re repeating that leitmotif of gold through these giant, what I call ‘sequins,’ these gold discs that are all over Hearst Plaza. It’s a selfie opportunity: you have the blue sky reflecting when you’re looking down and you can take a photograph.”
Lawrunce Sumulong
Guests dancing on The Dance Floor, at Josie Robertson Plaza. Some of the new, wood furniture, is visible in the background.
As part of his design, Ramos also added more permanent natural fixtures, installing new, young trees in the grove. The team complemented them with wooden furniture, giving guests the chance to sit down, read, and commune.
But, despite all of his hard work on the space, Ramos acknowledges that his favorite part of Lincoln Center is one that he didn’t design: “The best thing is seeing everyone together enjoying the arts.”
Dorothy Scarborough (she/her) is the assistant to the Editor in Chief of Town & Country and Elle Decor.