To Sit A While by Alison Saar

To Sit A While is an installation created by Alison Saar in 2022 to honor Lorraine Hansberry, the author of A Raisin In The Sun, the first play by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway in 1959. The title is from a line in the play that says – Never be afraid to sit a while and think – which is exactly what the artist does giving people in Times Square a chance to sit a while.

This public art installation is making multiple stops before finding its way to Chicago, which is Lorraine Hansberry’s birthplace and the setting for A Raisin in the Sun, and I happened to catch it in Times Square as part of its journey.

The chairs in the work represent Hansberry’s work as a playwright, journalist, and civil rights activist for Black, female and Queer causes.

All the chairs have inscriptions of lines from Hansberry’s work on the seats.

I am really happy to have caught this work in Times Square before it moves on!

#gottalovenewyork