2019 Arsenal Gallery Exhibits

January 17 – February 28, 2019

Power to the People

New York City’s parks have a long history of playing host to public demonstrations and protests that dates to the American Revolution. Since then, people have taken to the city’s streets, plazas, and parks to voice their distress during numerous periods of unrest. Today, parks continue to be some of the most democratic spaces for people to gather and declare their calls to action. NYC Parks Ebony Society’s exhibition Power to the People shares artists’ interpretations of public demonstration, drawing on both the city’s rich history of protest and current social conflicts.

Artists included are Kathleen Celestin-Parks, Mira Gandy, Suprina, Burroughs Lamar, Myrna Marrero, Kirk Maynard, Marilyn Nance, Malcolm Pinckney, Victor Polanco, Mario Tavarez, and Steed Taylor, as well as historical images from the NYC Parks Photo Archive. Curated by NYC Parks’ Ebony Society.

Image: April 22, 1970, First Earth Day, View of Crowds in Union Square Surrounding George Washington Monument, Courtesy of NYC Parks Photo Archive

March 13 – May 31, 2019

Nature in Black and White

Artworks depicting themes of nature are often full of color, striving to stay true to and capture the natural world’s kaleidoscope of vibrant hues: lush greenery, clear blue skies, and verdant flowers. In Nature in Black and White, six artists take natural subject matter and depict it using reserved tones of black, white, and grey, revealing intricate forms and details through the absence of color. Works in the show range from pencil drawings and oil paint, to cut paper and cast plaster.

Artists included are Tatiana Arocha, Marna Chester, Tom Monsees, Sarah Myers, Amy Ross, and Alexandria Tarver.

Image: Amy Ross, Luminous Wanderer, 2017, Charcoal on paper, image courtesy of the artist.

June 13 – August 30, 2019

David Flores, Nueva Bronx: 21st Century Families

Family, in all of its beautiful forms, stands as a cornerstone of the human experience, creating intersections between past, present, and future, simultaneously weaving larger connections in the community. During August and September 2018, David Flores offered free family portraiture in Railroad Park and the greater Morrisania neighborhood with on-site photography, printing, display, and digital sharing. This project is a response to recent nationalist movements that have attempted to remove and erase familial representations of immigrants and people of color. Parents, children, elders, extended family and friends all participated in the making of formal images and left with a large format print of themselves free of charge.

This project is a collaboration with ArtBuilt, Queens Museum, DreamYard, WHEDco, Bronx Defenders and NYC Parks.

This exhibition is an extension of Studio in the Park, made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, Surdna Foundation, and The New York Community Trust. Additional support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.

Image: David Flores, Family Plate #14, 2018, image courtesy of the artist.

September 13 – November 14, 2019

FASTNET: Plein-Air Drawings at Freshkills Park

FASTNET: Plein-Air Drawings at Freshkills Park is an exhibition of plein-air drawings and ink studies made within a 20-foot shipping container in the Confluence section at the center of Staten Island’s Freshkills Park. Formerly used by the NYC Department of Sanitation for landfill operations, Freshkills Park is now planned as a future cultural and waterfront hub. The FASTNET project, designed by James Powers, has brought artists of all ages to the developing park before it is fully open. These drawings represent visitors’ impressions of the scenery of the landfill-to-park as an ongoing dialogue between past, present, and future and prompt discussion about the human-nature relationship and what is “natural” in a completely engineered topography.

This exhibition is presented by NYC Parks, curated by Mariel Villeré of the Freshkills Park Development Team, and supported by the Freshkills Park Alliance and Con Edison.

Image courtesy of James Powers

December 5, 2019 – January 2, 2020

37th Annual Wreath Interpretations Exhibition

NYC Parks is pleased to announce the 37th annual Wreath Interpretations exhibition, welcoming the holiday season with an array of inventive, quirky wreaths. This year’s exhibition includes wreaths by more than 40 artists, designers, and creative individuals of all ages who have used a variety of unexpected materials to reinterpret the traditional holiday symbol, often with a touch of humor and light-hearted fun. Drawing on themes ranging from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to the bridges of New York City, artists this year have incorporated woven dog leashes, candy, plastic trophies, foil coffee wrappers, and wigs into their wreaths. Celebrate the holiday season with this quirky and one-of-a-kind exhibition.

Image: Aleksandra Vujkov, Checkmate, salvaged and reused chess books, crepe paper, and cardboard box