Bessie & Roxey, Donald Lipski, 2023
SERVICES PROVIDED: Design coordination, Materials research, Budget management, Engineering coordination and oversight, Fabricator bid process, Fabrication oversight, Lighting design development, Shipping, Installation services, Scheduling, Project close-out.
For the newly renovated Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Mineola Station in New York, Donald Lipski created a monumental 20’ 6” tall sculpture that celebrates Bessie & Roxey, two extraordinary figures whose stories of courage and determination have often gone untold. Their connection to Mineola, and ties to early 20th-century transportation, will be forever preserved in their shared local history.
In 1910 Bessica Raiche, a physician became the first woman in the United States to pilot an airplane solo. The biplane was built by Bessie and her husband in their Mineola home. She holds Roxey, a free-spirited pooch who in 1901 made his way onto the LIRR. He was adopted and cared for by the railroad crew and lived out his life on the train for many years. He was much beloved.
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) Arts & Design and Long Island Rail Road.
Select images courtesy of Jason Mandella, Donald Lipski, Jackson Hyland-Lipski, Christopher Collins, and Art Castings of Colorado.
