Madison Square Park is celebrating Puerto Rican culture through the Alfarero del Barrio exhibition by artist Roberto Lugo. The exhibition, which translates to “Village Potter,” was commissioned by the Madison Square Park Conservancy and features two sculptures made of hand-painted milled foam that combine traditional ceramics with modern graffiti and portraits.

“Alfarero del Barrio is a celebration of Puerto Rican culture and a visual representation of our resilience, creativity, and courage,” Lugo said in a press release. “Part of my role as a potter is to explore how history represents culture, and how I can use my work to tell the story of my people.”

On the north side of the park, Lugo installed a 20-foot-tall urn called “Capicú de Cariño,” or “I Heard it Both Ways.” The urn’s design was inspired by a 19th-century Herend vase from Hungary that Lugo saw on a trip.

“At the time that it originally started, porcelain was considered more expensive than gold, and the people that were commissioning the objects were the wealthiest of the wealthy, and so that becomes part of the visual sort of the landscape for a lot of folks, which is when they see these objects in museums, they’re often seeing it reference royalty,” Lugo told Galerie Magazine.

As a result, the urn’s eight panels feature paintings of Puerto Rican figures that hold that same level of significance to him, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bad Bunny, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and his parents Gilberto and Maribel Lugo. The statue also features an archway that is covered in graffiti, including the number 215 that serves as a reference to his Philadelphia hometown’s area code.

“But Alfarero del Barrio is for everyone, and visitors to Madison Square Park can walk inside this vase and become one of its vignettes, proving how everyone is individually important and can contribute greatly to the world,” Lugo said.

On the east side of the park, a 15-foot fire hydrant called “Para Los Días Caliente,” or “This Is For The Hot Ones,” was installed. The hydrant is covered in some graffiti, including the phrase “se vende,” meaning “for sale,” written on it. This sculpture was inspired by his memories from childhood, when his father would open a fire hydrant during heat waves so that he and other kids in the neighborhood could play.

Throughout the park, the exhibition features hand-painted domino tables that Lugo designed with his father, as well as planters made of tires that hold native Puerto Rican plants.