Art in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant Art Exhibit: 2018 - 2019 

Joyce Kilmer Park
Inspired by the neighboring Bronx Supreme Courthouse, Sitting Together critiques the established proceedings of courtroom cases. The sculptures will place the plaintiff and defendant within modified witness stands to encourage empathy and understanding, and redefine how we think of conflict resolution. Color and seating direction in each sculpture address the severity of the conflicts. July 2, 2018 to July 1, 2019.

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Virginia Park
Cara Lynch explores the tension between high and low, and private and public space in I’m So Happy You’re Here. Its patterns reference traditional parquet flooring, typically found in homes of the wealthy as a symbol of status and importance. By recontextualizing these patterns in a public mural, the work challenges notions of value and accessibility, as well as destination and origin. July 18, 2018 to July 19, 2019.

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Fort Greene Park
Tanda Francis’ work examines the African presence in public space as a powerful force of beauty and cultural relevance. Inspired by African sculptural tradition, including Ife portraiture, Francis also incorporates Victorian and colonial ornamentation into her work. Adorn Me will address the underrepresentation of this demographic in public artworks, and provide a healing message during a time of heated debate over monuments erected as symbols of oppression and control. July 17, 2018 to July17, 2019.

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Herbert Von King
Roberto Visani’s piece is inspired by the indigenous figurative sculptures of the Senufo people of West Africa as well as the forced migration and relocation of African people and culture in the Americas. Abstracted with 3D modeling software, the two figures will lean against one another as a symbol of togetherness and support. October 6, 2018 to October 5, 2019.

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Seward Park
Karla and James Murray’s wood-framed sculpture consists of near life-size photographs of four mom-and-pop neighborhood stores of the Lower East Side, which are no longer in business and have disappeared from the streetscape. Images of a bodega, a coffee shop/luncheonette, a vintage store, and a newsstand recognize the unique and irreplaceable contribution made to New York by small, often family-owned businesses. June 20, 2018 to June 19, 2018.

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Thomas Jefferson Park
Using photographs that she will take of parkgoers as inspiration, Harumi Ori will fold and sew industrial mesh in orange, a sacred color in Japan, to create three dimensional snapshots of the public park. Layered folds convincingly render the shape and volume of people and their surroundings. The installation will both document and celebrate the surrounding community’s diversity. July 10, 2018 to July 9, 2019.

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Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Landsberg will recreate several of the Unisphere’s islands from various continents at scale and place them together to form a global archipelago. The collection of islands will act as seating, stages, and meeting places, and reflect the diversity Queens. These continents, figuratively stitched together, will be recognizable by their shapes, but will have neither labels nor borders. July 11, 2018 to July 10, 2019.

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Rufus King Park
Absent Monuments consists of several mirrored obelisks. The viewer’s mirrored reflection both celebrates them and subtly brings them into Jamaica, Queens’ complex history of colonization, war, abolitionism, immigration and rural urbanization. The obelisks’ stone plinths feature blue and white Dutch Delft photographic tiles that display the history of Rufus King Park and are surrounded by floral tiles inspired by Native American pattern work. Through these motifs, the obelisks honor the complex history of the Native American people, while also acknowledging the various periods of cultural displacements that have occurred in Queens. July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.

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Faber Park
The Pencil Museum is a series of handmade vitrines containing antique pencils and writing instruments that illustrate the significance of the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company. The only pencil factory in America at its inception, it created one of the most commonly used products manufactured in NYC. Faber Park is the former site of the Faber Mansion, home of the “Pencil King of Staten Island” Johann Eberhard Faber. This exhibition will tell the story of this often overlooked portion of New York City history and the entrepreneur who chose to call Staten Island home. July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2019.

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Tappen Park
Stick Stump & The Lawn Lumps, a grouping of five unique sculptures, create a playful forum for reading, recreation, performance, and public interaction. Like hopping along a series of rocks in the landscape or finding that perfectly shaped stone to rest and take a seat, Frezza and Chiao aim for the works to invite viewers to engage with the art as they might engage with nature. July 30, 2018 to July 29, 2019.

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