Art in the Parks

René is comprised of scrap wood found in nearby Gowanus, Brooklyn. The sculpture speaks to the community members and organizations that are being forgotten as neighborhoods develop. This work enhances the conversations related to sustainability and usefulness as they apply to Brooklyn, but also other communities where residents, businesses, and artists have been forced out by neighborhood change. Farber hopes that this work will serve as a reminder that communities can come together and find a sustainable way in which to move forward. The name of the sculpture relates to the theme of again finding a voice, being found, and–through cooperation and collaboration–being reborn

For more than 45 years Eisner has been welding massive abstract sculptures from scrap and recycled metal. The four works that will be on view in Prospect Park are from a series Eisner created in the past 10 years from I–beams, rolled and twisted to create lyrical, elegant forms. This yearlong exhibition utilizes four key sites throughout the Park, chosen to maximize visitor access. The grassy triangle entrance facing Grand Army Plaza is home to Dancer, a 17–foot tall sculpture which spirals and soars upwards. Zerques, one of the smaller sculptures standing six and half feet tall will be placed on the lawn in front of the historic Litchfield Villa on 5th Street. Skipper, rising 13 feet and also constructed with curved I–beams, will greet visitors entering the Park from Bartel–Pritchard Square. Valentine II, named for its elegant heart shaped form, will be placed on the Peninsula in front of the Lake.

This exhibition is presented by Susan Eley Fine Art and the Prospect Park Alliance.

Untitled is part of the group exhibition The Animal Mirror, on view nearby at the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP). Korstanje’s site–specific installation consists of five sculptures and continues her investigations into the way art can intervene in the processes of the natural world. The sculptures are made from a mix of natural and human-made materials and are designed to serve as attractive homes for solitary bees. Unlike domesticated bees, solitary bees live alone, rather than in collective hives. Designed as much for use by the garden’s natural fauna as they are for the enjoyment of its human visitors, the sculptures will alter with the changing of the seasons.

Korstanje–a Dutch artist whose mother is a beekeeper–began her involvement with bees in 2006 in the midst of the first scientific reports of colony collapse disorder, in which a large number of honeybee colonies in North America and Europe suddenly and mysteriously disappeared. Traced to the use of industrial pesticides, among other causes, this phenomenon still poses a serious threat to agricultural production in the world, where bees play an essential role in pollinating many crops. Korstanje’s installation is meant to visually suggest swarming masses of insects, while the incorporated bamboo sticks and their hollow interiors also provide ready-made nesting grounds.

This exhibition is presented by International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP).

This exhibition documents the hopes of young people affected by humanitarian crises who are struggling to grow up in a world where their rights are regularly denied or abused. Aged between six and 18 years old, the children are photographed dressing up in the outfits of the adults they want to become. The exhibition combines two artistic projects, both of which stress the importance of ensuring that every young person has continued access to quality education and recreation, especially in times of humanitarian crisis. Both projects seek to highlight the vulnerability and also the great energy of today’s youth and how they can shape the future.

One Day, I Will, created by Vincent Tremeau, is a photography project which started in 2014 in the Central African Republic, and has since gone on to Mali, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Vision Not Victim (VNV) program’ created by Meredith Hutchinson in partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), aims to give adolescent girls a chance to develop and explore their aspirations through art.

This exhibition is presented by United Photo Industries, the DUMBO BID, and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Ruth Hofheimer’s design contains imagery of the Lenape tribe that once inhabited the Brooklyn area, as well as native plant life and abstract forms. These elements are rendered in a flat style to evoke Native American art and pattern which was typically flat and symbolic.

This project is presented by Arts Gowanus  and the Old Stone House & Washington Park

This temporary installation, consisting of 58 signs bearing the names of the losing candidates from every presidential election in American history, coincides with this year’s presidential election, and once the results are official, it will eventually include a sign with the name of the loser of the 2016 Presidential Election. At the moment when the country is deeply preoccupied with a major national election, Monument to the Unelected serves as a reminder of the country's collective political road not taken. It does not reflect any particular political viewpoint or endorse any particular party. It has been exhibited during two past presidential election cycles, usually spanning the time before and after the election.

Katchadourian was originally commissioned by the Scottsdale Museum of Art to create a new work around the time of the 2008 presidential election and became interested in the plastic election signs sprouting up around Scottsdale. The signs struck her as an American tradition of sorts and with an aesthetic all their own. Each sign was made in a contemporary design vernacular, even if it advertised a candidate from a previous century. None of the signs are designs that were used in the candidates’ actual election campaigns. Many of the signs borrow directly from the designs of signs in Scottsdale; others were modeled on signs in other parts of the country. All the signs are printed using similar commercial production methods as common election signage.

This exhibition is presented by the Prospect Park Alliance and the Historic House Trust, with support from the New York State Council on the Arts. The Prospect Park Alliance will present a mock election and programming for youth at the house on Election Day. For more information on this event and the exhibit itself, please visit prospectpark.org/electionday.

Times Square marquees, roadside signs, and advertising logos are the stock–in–trade for giant neon signs. Martin Creed has adapted the medium for his own colossal sign, proclaiming a word rather than selling a product. His chosen word, “understanding,” is fundamental to communication between people. Spelled out in ten–foot–tall letters mounted on a 50–foot–long steel I–beam, Understanding rotates 360 degrees, constantly shifting perspective on the work. The beam spins at varying speeds, the rhythm determined by a computerized program designed by the artist. 

A prolific interdisciplinary artist and musician, Martin Creed has become one of Britain’s best known artists for his playful, poetic, and sometimes provocative work. Simple and direct, Understanding invites us to make our own interpretations. Creed has designed the base of his sculpture as a social space, a stepped platform on which visitors may gather to enjoy the view – and perhaps debate the limits and possibilities of human understanding.

This exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

OSS#02 Brooklyn, the latest installment of an ongoing project by Spanish artist Juanli Carrión, is a temporary living sculpture and community garden located at Fort Greene Park’s entrance at Myrtle Avenue and Washington Park. This is Carrión‘s second public installation with Parks, the first of which was in Manhattan in 2014. Â The threefold public art installation, community garden, and educational center for community discussion derives from a series of videotaped, at-home interviews conducted by Carrión with immigrants living in Brooklyn. The interviewees are asked about their personal experiences with cultural adaptation and coexistence since arriving in New York. At the end of the discussion, each interviewee selects a plant that exists in both their country of origin and the United States to be planted in the garden.

This 230-square-foot garden is in the shape of Brooklyn and features 36 different plants chosen by immigrants living in the borough. Placed according to the interviewees’ physical locations within Brooklyn, the plants represent the immigrants, their communities, and the diversity of the borough. All these plants will coexist side-by-side in this impossible garden. The survival of the garden is dependent on its free public programs that include weekly hands-on gardening workshops organized in partnership with local organizations and institutions.

This project is presented by the Greater New York Arts Development Fund of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs administered by Brooklyn Arts Council (BAC), Fort Greene Park Conservancy, and Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership.

Crown Heights artists Mildred Beltré and Oasa DuVerney will bring their community-engaged art project Brooklyn Hi-Art! Machine (BHAM) to Brower Park. It will be open daily between 10 AM to 6 PM. Using the beautifully designed ArtBuilt Mobile Studio as their base, Mildred and Oasa will engage park-goers and community members in participatory art projects and workshops, hold open studio hours, and give neighbors a chance to transform their interactions with each other and the broader community through art.

BHAM is a collaborative public art project that explores art-making as a community-building tool. Through the project, Mildred and Oasa bring together people of different ages and backgrounds to connect and exchange ideas and stories. With public barbecues, fence weaving, recycled-plastic crocheting and weaving, screen-printing and gardening projects, BHAM engages neighbors in re-imagining and re-claiming public space as a creative, generative venue for community organizing, peaceful actions and play.

Public events will take place in the park each weekend during the residency, with activities including: Gavin Cato Bike Repair Workshop and Give-away (August 21, 12-6 PM), Working Moms Labor Day Celebration (September 3, 4-6 PM), Tenants Rights Information Sessions, and much more. Additional events will emerge as the artists interact with the park and the local community. An updated schedule of events can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/ArtBuiltMobileStudios

ArtBuilt Studio in the Park is a joint project of NYC Parks and ArtBuilt Mobile Studios, bringing arts and culture programming to local parks across New York City.

This exhibition is presented by ArtBuilt.

Art Slope is a festival created by the Park Slope Civic Council to engage and showcase the neighborhood’s diverse community of artists, writers, and performers. In addition to performances and exhibitions on view throughout Park Slope, nine art installations can be found in various locations in Prospect Park during the festival. Artists exhibiting in the park include Sarah E. Brook, Cecile Chong, Ethan Crenson, David D’Ostilio, Girl on Girl Collective, Gabriel Pacheco, Seema Lisa Pandya, Nicholas Papadakis, and a collaboration between Billy Curry, Tracey Cockrell, Jeff Wolf and Lee Boyes. Drawing from a rich trove of local artists, arts organizations and venues to create a celebration of visual, literary and performing arts, Art Slope provides a walkable art experience open to people of all ages and backgrounds.

This exhibition is part of Art Slope, presented by the Park Slope Civic Council.