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AccessibilityArt in the Parks
Through collaborations with a diverse group of arts organizations and artists, Parks brings to the public both experimental and traditional art in many park locations. Please browse our list of current exhibits and our archives of past exhibits below. You can also see past grant opportunities or read more about the Art in the Parks Program.
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Find out which current exhibits are on display near you, and browse our permanent monument collection.
Search Current and Past Exhibits
2024
Manhattan
Kerstin Bratsch, Fossil Psychic Stone Mimicry (Palladiana, Masaico_Bench I)
October 26, 2024 to September 21, 2025
The High Line, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
For the High Line, Bratsch presents Fossil Psychic Stone Mimicry (Palladiana, Mosaico_Bench I) (2023-2024), a large-scale site-specific mosaic bench that becomes a “stone painting.” The work is a material translation of one of her Fossil Psychics (stucco marmo) works, in which the painting gesture becomes a body of fossilized fragments, as if the result of geologic phenomena, enshrining the past into the present—like runes, or a fly trapped in amber. Wrapped around an Oregon Green Austrian pine tree, the work offers a moment of respite for parkgoers, quietly urging visitors to reconnect with the natural world that surrounds them on the High Line.
For the High Line, Bratsch presents Fossil Psychic Stone Mimicry (Palladiana, Mosaico_Bench I) (2023-2024), a large-scale site-specific mosaic bench that becomes a “stone painting.” The work is a material translation of one of her Fossil Psychics (stucco marmo) works, in which the painting gesture becomes a body of fossilized fragments, as if the result of geologic phenomena, enshrining the past into the present—like runes, or a fly trapped in amber. Wrapped around an Oregon Green Austrian pine tree, the work offers a moment of respite for parkgoers, quietly urging visitors to reconnect with the natural world that surrounds them on the High Line.
This project is presented by The High Line.
Zeehan Wazed, Ball for Art
September 5, 2024 to September 4, 2025
Sara D. Roosevelt Park, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
This group of four murals by artist Zeehan Wazed are set behind the basketball hoops on the Grand Street Basketball Courts in Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Together, the murals bring a sense of movement and brightness to the retaining walls surrounding the courts.
This group of four murals by artist Zeehan Wazed are set behind the basketball hoops on the Grand Street Basketball Courts in Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Together, the murals bring a sense of movement and brightness to the retaining walls surrounding the courts.
This exhibition is presented by NYC Culture Club and Artolution.
Henry Roundtrip Marton Newman, Ectoplasm
September 28, 2024 to September 3, 2025
Riverside Park South, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
Consisting of clear acrylic panels etched with life-sized silhouetted figures set within an architectural steel frame, Ectoplasm seeks to mediate the divide between public and private grief—offering an opportunity to reflect on our shared melancholia. The structure abstracts the city and renders it transparent. As the sun moves across the sky, shadowy reflections of the figures are cast, reforming and disappearing with the sun. Through the sculpture, the divides between interior and exterior, material and immaterial, gone and present, are blurred.
Consisting of clear acrylic panels etched with life-sized silhouetted figures set within an architectural steel frame, Ectoplasm seeks to mediate the divide between public and private grief—offering an opportunity to reflect on our shared melancholia. The structure abstracts the city and renders it transparent. As the sun moves across the sky, shadowy reflections of the figures are cast, reforming and disappearing with the sun. Through the sculpture, the divides between interior and exterior, material and immaterial, gone and present, are blurred.
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.
Sydney Shen, SBNO (Standing But Not Operating)
September 28, 2024 to September 3, 2025
Riverside Park South, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
As an artist, Shen is interested in ambivalent emotional states such as fear, wonder, pleasure and pain. A roller coaster enthusiast, Shen is particularly fascinated by how theme parks sublimate the thrill of near-death into a form of amusement. Taking the form of something unsettlingly between an anatomical model, a carnival ride, and a metronome, which measure time through beats akin to the human heartbeat, SBNO (Standing But Not Operating) speaks to an innate human desire to be moved–physically and metaphorically–beyond our limits.
As an artist, Shen is interested in ambivalent emotional states such as fear, wonder, pleasure and pain. A roller coaster enthusiast, Shen is particularly fascinated by how theme parks sublimate the thrill of near-death into a form of amusement. Taking the form of something unsettlingly between an anatomical model, a carnival ride, and a metronome, which measure time through beats akin to the human heartbeat, SBNO (Standing But Not Operating) speaks to an innate human desire to be moved–physically and metaphorically–beyond our limits.
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.
Malin Abrahamsson, Moon Finder
September 28, 2024 to September 3, 2025
Riverside Park, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
Moon Finder is a public sculpture and orientation device. Aligned with the ecliptic—the broad, dynamic celestial belt where the Sun, Moon, and planets orbit through space—it reflects Earth’s emerging position and astronomical relationships within the solar system. Combining elements of science and engineering with the moon’s symbolism as an object of longing and desire, Moon Finder acts as both a literal and metaphorical navigation tool, pointing to this location in Riverside Park and your presence in the cosmos.
Moon Finder is a public sculpture and orientation device. Aligned with the ecliptic—the broad, dynamic celestial belt where the Sun, Moon, and planets orbit through space—it reflects Earth’s emerging position and astronomical relationships within the solar system. Combining elements of science and engineering with the moon’s symbolism as an object of longing and desire, Moon Finder acts as both a literal and metaphorical navigation tool, pointing to this location in Riverside Park and your presence in the cosmos.
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.
Patricia Espinosa, Hourglass
September 28, 2024 to September 3, 2025
Riverside Park, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
The Hourglass seeks to address the critical issue of water scarcity. The sculpture takes the form of a giant twisted sponge, resembling an hourglass, that symbolizes the diminishing availability of water. It combines both concepts—sponge & hourglass—seeking to visually, and technically, capture the course of water passing through and running out.
The Hourglass seeks to address the critical issue of water scarcity. The sculpture takes the form of a giant twisted sponge, resembling an hourglass, that symbolizes the diminishing availability of water. It combines both concepts—sponge & hourglass—seeking to visually, and technically, capture the course of water passing through and running out.
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.
Jeff Sonhouse, Harlequin
September 4, 2024 to September 3, 2025
St. Nicholas Park, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
The basketball courts are designed with a diamond-pattern the artist saw while researching artist Pablo Picasso’s paintings of the Harlequin: a comedic, multi-faceted character, usually masked and dressed in diamond-patterned outfits, featured in his works. As a former scholar-athlete, professional basketball player, and currently a fulltime visual artist, Sonhouse chose this pattern to commemorate those individuals, who like the Harlequin were showmen. They inspired him to be more than he imagined was expected of him.
The basketball courts are designed with a diamond-pattern the artist saw while researching artist Pablo Picasso’s paintings of the Harlequin: a comedic, multi-faceted character, usually masked and dressed in diamond-patterned outfits, featured in his works. As a former scholar-athlete, professional basketball player, and currently a fulltime visual artist, Sonhouse chose this pattern to commemorate those individuals, who like the Harlequin were showmen. They inspired him to be more than he imagined was expected of him.
This exhibition is presented by Project Backboard.
Edra Soto, Graft
September 5, 2024 to August 24, 2025
Doris Freedman Plaza, Central Park, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
Made from corten steel and terrazzo, Graft is a monument to working class Puerto Rican communities and Soto’s first sculpture inspired by a specific house façade. Tables and seating invite visitors to enjoy a moment of rest, connection, and reflection. The sculpture creates a threshold, with one side representing a home’s exterior; the other, the more intimate atmosphere of an interior. The work’s title addresses Soto’s complex sentiments around migrating to Chicago while remaining connected to Puerto Rico. For Soto, feelings of dislocation are compounded by the island’s ambiguous status as an unincorporated territory of the United States. Graft opens connections between Puerto Rican communities across the city and reminds us of the centrality of the Caribbean to the history of New York City and the United States.
Made from corten steel and terrazzo, Graft is a monument to working class Puerto Rican communities and Soto’s first sculpture inspired by a specific house façade. Tables and seating invite visitors to enjoy a moment of rest, connection, and reflection. The sculpture creates a threshold, with one side representing a home’s exterior; the other, the more intimate atmosphere of an interior. The work’s title addresses Soto’s complex sentiments around migrating to Chicago while remaining connected to Puerto Rico. For Soto, feelings of dislocation are compounded by the island’s ambiguous status as an unincorporated territory of the United States. Graft opens connections between Puerto Rican communities across the city and reminds us of the centrality of the Caribbean to the history of New York City and the United States.
This exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund.
Beatrice Coron, Bloomingdale Medallions
August 16, 2024 to August 15, 2025
Various Locations, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
This series of seven stainless steel medallions honors Bloomingdale neighborhood residents who have shaped our world, including The Malagon Sisters, musical group; Ben E. King, musician; Duke Ellington, musician; Bernardo Palombo, musician; Ismael Rivera, musician; Alvin Ailey, dancer and chorographer; and Angelo Romano, artist. Over the course of a year, the exhibition will rotate between three neighborhood parks: Booker T. Washington Playground (August 16, 2024 to December 12, 2024), Happy Warrior Playground (December 13, 2024 to April 10, 2025), and Frederick Douglass Playground (April 11, 2025 to August 15, 2025).
This series of seven stainless steel medallions honors Bloomingdale neighborhood residents who have shaped our world, including The Malagon Sisters, musical group; Ben E. King, musician; Duke Ellington, musician; Bernardo Palombo, musician; Ismael Rivera, musician; Alvin Ailey, dancer and chorographer; and Angelo Romano, artist. Over the course of a year, the exhibition will rotate between three neighborhood parks: Booker T. Washington Playground (August 16, 2024 to December 12, 2024), Happy Warrior Playground (December 13, 2024 to April 10, 2025), and Frederick Douglass Playground (April 11, 2025 to August 15, 2025).
This exhibition is presented by El Taller Latino Americano and the Columbus Amsterdam BID.
Arthur Simms, A Totem for the High Line
August 31, 2024 to August 3, 2025
The High Line, Manhattan
Map/Directions (in Google Maps)
Description:
For the High Line, Simms creates a new site-specific sculpture, A Totem for the High Line. In addition to materials that have become core to his body of work—wood, rope, and personal objects—A Totem for the High Line. also speaks directly to its site, both on the High Line and in New York City. The work incorporates a decommissioned utility pole found on Randall's Island, assorted cables, and discarded license plates from various states—perhaps a reference to the many visitors that flock to New York and the High Line. By integrating these elements, Simms continues his practice of entangling and reusing objects to emphasize the various histories and meanings they carry. The work stands as an homage to transformation and the perpetual unfolding of our past, present, and future.
For the High Line, Simms creates a new site-specific sculpture, A Totem for the High Line. In addition to materials that have become core to his body of work—wood, rope, and personal objects—A Totem for the High Line. also speaks directly to its site, both on the High Line and in New York City. The work incorporates a decommissioned utility pole found on Randall's Island, assorted cables, and discarded license plates from various states—perhaps a reference to the many visitors that flock to New York and the High Line. By integrating these elements, Simms continues his practice of entangling and reusing objects to emphasize the various histories and meanings they carry. The work stands as an homage to transformation and the perpetual unfolding of our past, present, and future.
This exhibition is presented by The High Line.
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