Benninger Playground

NYC PARKS ANNOUNCES SLATE OF SPRING AND SUMMER PUBLIC ART EXHIBITIONS AROUND THE CITY

New and Upcoming Public Art Installations on View
Upcoming Includes UNIQLO Park Expressions Exhibitions and June 2017 - 2018

NYC Parks is pleased to present a slew of public art installations citywide, upcoming this season and currently on view. Spring and summer are ideal for venturing outside to explore parks and the free public art within them. Now in its 50th year, Parks’ public art program, Art in the Parks, continues its mission to bring contemporary public artworks to the city’s parks, making New York City one of the world’s largest open-air galleries. The agency has consistently fostered the creation and installation of temporary public art in parks throughout the five boroughs. Since 1967, NYC Parks has collaborated with arts organizations and artists to produce over 2,000 public artworks by 1,300 notable and emerging artists in over 200 parks.

UPCOMING
Various Artists, “Art in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant”
Various Parks, Citywide
On view June 20, 2017 through June 19, 2018
Ten artists from around the city have been chosen as grant recipients by Parks and global retailer UNIQLO to install original artworks in 10 destination parks. The chosen locations are Joyce Kilmer Park and Virginia Park in the Bronx; Fort Greene Park and Herbert Von King Park in Brooklyn; Thomas Jefferson Park and Seward Park in Manhattan; Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Rufus King Park in Queens; and Tappen Park and Faber Park in Staten Island. Artists in this exhibition include: Patricia Cazorla and Nancy Saleme, Lovie Pignata, Blythe Caine, Musa Hixson, Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong, Capucine Bourcart; Sam Holleran, Patrick Rowe, and Mobile Print Power; Risa Puno, Lina Montoya, and Fitzhugh Karol. For renderings, artist bios and project descriptions, visit our website.

Naomi Lawrence, “Magnolia” and “Hibiscus Tree”
Anibal Aviles Playground, Manhattan
On view June 21, 2017 through June 21, 2018
Through her colorfully crocheted, intensively worked, and oversized flowers, Naomi Lawrence believes that small artistic gestures can lead people into a new imagination about their home environment. She uses ubiquitous chain-link fences to frame color and texture in surprising ways, creating interaction between fiber, color, fence, sidewalk, and passing pedestrians and validating under-recognized and unappreciated corners of neighborhoods. At Anibal Aviles Playground, she will create a giant magnolia—a seasonal Parks flower—to be installed in June, with a hibiscus tree installed in September, following a series of community workshops to make the leaves.

Jane Manus, “Danielle”
Dr. Ronald E. McNair Park, Brooklyn
On view June 12, 2017 through June 12, 2018
Jane Manus’ strongly geometric aluminum sculptures, personally welded by hand, draw their primary inspiration from the angularity and structure of architecture. With the play of its cheery, vibrant yellow paint and a dynamic use of negative space, “Danielle” transforms its surroundings and inspires an interactive viewing experience. The sculpture’s angular lines and joyful hue spring forth from the green lawns and trees surrounding it.

Jordan Morales, Hamairi Alvarez and Jordy Victor, “Enlightenment,” “Unity” and “Freedom”
Hope Ballfield, Brooklyn
On view June 17, 2017 through November 20, 2017
During the school year, artist Raul Ayala worked with three students at El Puente to create a series of three designs based on the themes of freedom and community empowerment. These designs are then cut into different geometric shapes on plywood, and hung from chain link fence. El Puente has been a force in Bushwick for the last 25 years developing powerful youth leaders through its El Puente Bushwick Leadership Center. For the past four years, El Puente has been leading the transformation of Hope Ballfield for the community.

Nancy Borowitz, The Family Imprint
Anchorage Plaza, Brooklyn
On view June 10, 2017 through September 30, 2017
This large-scale photographic public art exhibition displays photojournalist Nancy Borowick’s family story. When her parents, Howie and Laurel, underwent simultaneous treatment for stage-four cancer in 2012, she did the only thing she knew how to do: she picked up her camera and documented her parents’ dual treatments for the next 24 months. By turning the camera on her family’s life during this most intimate time, Borowick learned a great deal about herself, family, and relationships in general. This wasn’t a story about cancer; it was a story of family, love, and living it the face of mortality.

CURRENTLY ON VIEW
William Logan, “Flame”
Tramway Plaza, Manhattan
On view through November 15, 2017
Although it stands nearly 40 feet tall, “Flame” exudes an airiness that is the result of William Logan’s experimental work with carbon fiber and lightweight structures. The intricate surface texture reflects the laborious effort that went into the fabrication of the piece by hand and allows the piece to catch the light in unexpected ways. The open lattice of the upper element lends the work a diaphanous quality, while its aluminum construction gives it structure.

Tom Monsees, “Tripod”
Dyckman Farm House, Manhattan
On view through June 30, 2017
“Tripod” is made up of a trio of casts from a found piece of rotting wood. Remade in a ghostly white, matte cement, it makes reference to death masks and pays homage to the object’s prior life. The wood is elevated to a place of honor generally reserved for well known, and/or well-regarded, human subjects. This outdoor sculpture accompanies an indoor exhibition of Monsees’ sculpture inside the historic farmhouse.

14 Sculptors, “On the Rock 2017: An Exhibition of Sculpture”
Rockaway Park, Queens
On view through October 9, 2017
This group exhibition includes 16 sculptures by 15 artists at 14 sites adjacent to the newly completed boardwalk on Shore Front Parkway, spanning from Beach 73 Street to Beach 108 Street. The sculptures celebrate the spirit and beauty of the Rockaways and range from the intimate to the monumental. Artists in this exhibition include Dan Bergman, Allan Cyprys, Febrications, Esther A. Grillo, Bibiana Huang Matheis, Christina Jorge, Sui Park, Siena Gillann Porta, Carl Rattner, Herb Rosenberg, Stan Squirewell, Anne Stanner, Chuck von Schmidt, and collaborative artists Carmen Frank and Laura Frank. During each month of the exhibition, arts and cultural events, special programs and tours will be offered free to the public.

Rose DeSiano, “Island of Empirical Data and Other Fabrications,” FLOW.17
Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan
On view through November 30, 2017
Rose DeSiano’s Island of Empirical Data and Other Fabrications uses historical records, statistical data, photo archives and government documents to explore the complexity and reflexivity of culturally-constructed histories. Focusing on Randall’s Island Park as a microcosm of urban planning and transformation, DeSiano photographed buildings, sites, and landmarks representing this data, mining the city’s archives to fill in gaps. The photos were printed on oversized panels that loom over Park visitors, enveloping them within the city’s history of challenges and triumphs. At the same time, their own images will be reflected and superimposed upon the scene, in turn updating the archival images within modern-day Randall’s Island Park.

LeAp, “A View from the Lunch Table: Students Bringing Issues to the Table”
Various locations citywide
On view through August 31, 2017
Students from ten public middle schools, with two schools in each borough, have transformed school lunchroom tables into colorful public artworks that touch upon critical social issues. The tables give young teens an opportunity to voice their opinions and reach out to the public in hopes of inspiring social change through their art. The tables can be found in Claremont Park and Crotona Park in the Bronx, Bensonhurst Park and Sternberg Park in Brooklyn, Riverside Park and Captain Jacob Joseph Playground in Manhattan, Benninger Park and Forest Park in Queens, and Clove Lakes Park and Snug Harbor Cultural Center in Staten Island. Since 1977, LeAp (Learning through an Expanded Art Program) has provided arts-based education to over two million students K-12 throughout New York City.

Various Artists, Sing for Hope Pianos
Various locations citywide
On view through June 25, 2017
For three weeks, 62 unique artist-designed pianos are placed in parks and public spaces throughout the city’s five boroughs, including 35 in parks, for anyone and everyone to play. The pianos will bring individuals and communities together in an open festival of art for all. After their time on the streets, Sing for Hope will transport the instruments to New York City public schools, where they will become hubs for Sing for Hope’s ongoing creative programs and enrich students’ lives for years to come. This year, Sing for Hope will place its 400th unique piano artwork in the five boroughs.

Aya Rodriguez-Izumi, “Reflections”
Morningside Park, Manhattan
On view through August 31, 2017
“Reflections” is a grouping of three interactive public sculptures that use art and yoga as platforms for healing, harmony, and reflection while encouraging inclusivity and diversity in two practices that are historically non-diverse. The sculptures utilize readily available materials such as PVC pipes and Mylar flag canopies to create environments for contemplation and reflection. A non-profit community partner, Three and a Half Acres Yoga, will present free introductory community yoga classes around the structures on the second Saturday of each month throughout the exhibition.

For more information about the Art in the Parks program, and for even more public artworks, visit www.nyc.gov/parks/art.