Art in the Parks

Working across media, Helen Draves explores the passage of time and its physical and metaphorical impact on memory. In this sculpture, Draves continues these themes in an empathetic reflection on the Covid-19 pandemic. Inspired by a childhood memory of folding paper cranes, which have long been recognized as symbols of hope and healing, Draves created a collection of ceramic birds that when arranged together form the shape of a medical mask. The sculpture also includes medical masks cast in resin, which are transcribed with open-sourced messages intended to express the hope, loss, and memories of those affected by the pandemic, to serve as a reminder of the power of art to facilitate healing, foster connections, and inspire hope.

The Works in Public (WiP) program, formerly known as Model to Monument, is a professional development program that was begun in 2010 in partnership with NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program.

This exhibition is presented by the Art Students League of New York and the Riverside Park Conservancy.

Susan Markowitz Meredith’s LIFE DANCE features three intertwining three-dimensional forms, representing the concept of mutual arising. Drawing inspiration from intertwining spiral forms found in nature, the three central shoots rise from a common source and engage with each other. Each shoot carries a progression of transparent step-like forms that serve as metaphors for an intangible growth process–suggesting that individual experiences are not isolated, and that society grows and flourishes by embracing our differences and recognizing our interconnections.

The Works in Public (WiP) program, formerly known as Model to Monument, is a professional development program that was begun in 2010 in partnership with NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program.

This exhibition is presented by the Art Students League of New York and the Riverside Park Conservancy.

Palli uses material to question his daily processes and how they engage with his identity. Expanding beyond the personal, Palli’s sculpture presents an opportunity for audiences to engage with the narratives of local versus foreign and the sense of belonging within the United States. Our Gates is a celebration of New York City and its diverse communities, utilizing interlocking arches to both welcome visitors into the community and to encourage them to pass through into a symbolic space of participation, experimentation, and intrepid opportunity.

The Works in Public (WiP) program, formerly known as Model to Monument, is a professional development program that was begun in 2010 in partnership with NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program.

This exhibition is presented by the Art Students League of New York and the Riverside Park Conservancy.

A sculptor and digital artist, Kahn utilizes technology—in its successes and failures—to analyze the complexity and poetics of capturing the human body in the digital age. Working from a 3D scan of musician and artist tiger west, Portrait of t. brings the digital, private realm into the public through a glitched body scan cast in bronze. In conversation with the veteran and war monuments already extant at Riverside Park, Kahn highlights the importance of celebrating anonymous lives in the public sphere.

The Works in Public (WiP) program, formerly known as Model to Monument, is a professional development program that was begun in 2010 in partnership with NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program.

This exhibition is presented by the Art Students League of New York and the Riverside Park Conservancy.

Eversley’s magenta-tinted cast polyurethane work offers visitors a captivating experience of perceiving the surrounding environment, others, and themselves through the artist’s “lens”. Simultaneously reflective and transparent, the luminescent parabolic form—a tapered cylinder—serves as a focal point of serenity, transcendence, and the exploration of new dimensions and perspectives. Eversley’s presentation represents not only his first public sculpture in New York, but also the first outdoor placement of the artist’s large-scale polyurethane resin works.

This exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund.

Undercurrent, a massive steel sculpture by celebrated Chinese artist Zheng Lu was created especially for this site and relates to the United Nations recent climate action initiatives. Zheng’s deep reverence for nature is often reflected in his work. Part of his acclaimed Water in Dripping series, Undercurrent emphasizes the significance of water as a medium symbolic of change, self-reflection and the passage of time, as well as a symbol of temperate planet earth, where the presence of water—a rapidly diminishing resource—permits life.

This exhibition is presented by Sundaram Tagore Gallery.

This mural was created by Summer Youth Employment Program participants with lead artists Joel Bergner and Angela F Zirbes. The design begins on the left with an image representing the feeling of being silenced and marginalized in society. Coming out of this image is a hand being greeted by a second hand, alluding to the importance of community and family support and having a network of support. Further to the right, diverse young people have headphones on, which are connected to each other in a visual representation of the importance of tolerance and inclusion. At the far right, two hands are giving a fist bump to illustrate friendship and comradery, a statement of positive connection, with the community of Washington Heights in the background.

This exhibition is presented by the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Choosing Healthy & Active Lifestyles for Kids (CHALK), Artolution, and Community League of the Heights (CLOTH).

The CITYarts Our Voices mural is infused with the rich musical tradition and diverse culture of West Harlem. The borders contain personalized details by youth participants — small squares that tell the world about their identities, wishes, and dreams. The first half of the mural was painted in August 2022 and was completed by a second group of students in August 2023.

This exhibition is presented by CITYarts.

​Setting the Stage for Climate Change is made almost entirely of repurposed materials including the interior structure and platform that are constructed from repurposed wood cut from pickle barrels. The visible surfaces feature plastic laundry bottles, single use plastics, and detritus that are melted and joined, suggesting mitigations to the climate crisis by preserving forests, reducing plastic consumption, and repurposing materials in unexpected ways. Setting the Stage for Climate Change on its own is a free-standing sculpture. By siting it on the elevated terrace surrounded by stone walls and staircases, it becomes a backdrop for an amphitheater encouraging others to perform and activate the space.

This exhibition is presented by Art Lives Here and Friends of Morningside Park, made possible in part with funding from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

The Kongo Cosmogram depicts the interaction between two worlds; the visible and the invisible, or the physical and the spiritual. Nari Ward is known for his sculptural installations composed of discarded material found and collected in his neighborhood. Ward re-contextualizes these found objects in thought provoking juxtapositions that create complex, metaphorical meanings to confront social and political issues surrounding race, poverty, and consumer culture. He intentionally leaves the meaning of his work open, allowing the viewer to provide his or her own interpretation.

This exhibition is presented by Project Backboard.