You’re walking down the street, just minding your own business, when WHAM. You walk straight into an art display that looks like it’s in a museum. You have to stop and look at it, marvel that you get to run into world class art in this city. No wonder New Yorkers are notoriously late. “Sorry, I had to stop and oogle at something really freakin’ cool that I saw on the street,” is not a valid excuse. It should be.

Spring is public art season ’round these parts. As if we needed another reason to love spring! Madison Square Park is the most reliable. I’ve never seen this park without an exhibit. After avoiding walks all January, February, and most of March, I finally went for a walk through Madison Square Park this week. What I saw I liked so much I made it a point to visit again!

Paula Hayes’ Gazing Globes sit on the south west side of the park facing the Flatiron Building.

18 circular spheres rest on pedestals. Each contains an assortment of “remnants of contemporary culture”- pieces of discarded electronics, industrial materials, acrylic wands. The final touch is a sprinkling of “fairy dust made of pulverized CDs.” Each globe is different and to me they bring to mind how a snow globe might look if you put it in the microwave. Or maybe a nuclear winter.

They look even cooler at night, which was why I had to make to Madison Square Park strolls in one week.

The Gazing Globes are only one display through April 19th. If you’re anywhere in the area between now and then, I highly recommend walking through them! There is another art piece by Teresita Fernández in Madison Square Park that you can catch at the same time. It may still be a work in progress, it’s official date isn’t until April 30th. But I saw it! It’s there now and scheduled to be through January 2016! For more public art in store for NYC, see this great list from Huffington Post.