Brigadier General Charles Young Playground

NYC PARKS’ ART IN THE PARKS PROGRAM PRESENTS NEW ARTWORKS ON VIEW CITYWIDE THIS SUMMER

The #SummerOfNYC is on full display, and so are NYC Parks’ free Art in the Parks exhibits! With more than 40 installations currently on view, Parks invites New Yorkers to visit outdoor public art in parks across the five boroughs. The installations range in scale from small objects to monumental sculptures and use a variety of materials, including textiles, acrylic, brass, and plants. With tributes to Eric Garner, Revolutionary War hero Margaret Corbin, African American inventor Lewis H. Latimer, and more, they express messages of hope, justice, change, and renewal.

Here are a few highlights this season:

BRONX

Anina Gerchick, BIRDLINK
On view through May 21, 2022
Crotona Park, Bronx
BIRDLINK is an interactive habitat sculpture that supports migratory birds by inserting native plant systems at the empty and lower canopy levels throughout the urban and suburban corridors through which they travel. Additionally, it responds to community interests, highlights the shared urban ecosystem, bridges cultural differences through the universality of birds, and serves as an educational tool.

BROOKLYN

Lara Saget, The Roots of Tuckahoe Marble
On view through May 16, 2022
Clumber Corner, Brooklyn
The Roots of Tuckahoe Marble is an 8-foot-tall sculpture made of Tuckahoe marble, bronze, and glass. Tuckahoe marble became an extremely popular building material in the early 1800s and was used to build Borough Hall and the arch in Washington Square Park. Here, it is encased inside of molten glass, generating a transparent, crystalline form, which is itself embedded in a cast bronze piece of an organism known as Pando found in Utah's Fishlake National Forest.

Daniele Frazier, Big Bird
On view through December 27, 2021
Highland Park, Brooklyn
Big Bird features a six-foot-tall aluminum cutout of a white-bellied caique parrot, hand-painted in sign enamel. The bird is perched twenty feet above the ground, as if it were surveying the activities of park-goers below. Hanging from the perch is a bronze bell, recalling the types of “enrichment” toys that are provided for caged birds. In keeping with themes of Frazier's past works that depend on interaction with the weather, the bell rings in high winds and can be heard even where the piece cannot be seen.

MANHATTAN

Zaq Landsberg, Tomb Effigy of Margaret Corbin
On view through June 11, 2022
Fort Tryon Park, Manhattan
Tomb Effigy of Margaret Corbin pays tribute to Revolutionary War hero Margaret Corbin (1751–1800), considered the first woman to fight for America, and namesake of several Fort Tryon Park features. Corbin took control of her fallen husband’s cannon and fought during the Battle of Fort Washington at this site in 1776. The artwork takes the form of the tomb effigies at The Met Cloisters, figuratively and aesthetically stitching together the Revolutionary War battlefield and the ahistorical, relocated medieval French abbeys that comprise the Cloisters. In addition to paying homage to a lesser-known female historical figure, Landsberg’s sculpture contributes to the contemporary conversation around representation in monuments and public commemoration. This exhibition was made possible by the Clare Weiss Emerging Artist Award with support from Janet and John Koehne.

MIDABI, The Only Other
On view through June 23, 2022
Union Square Park, Manhattan
Created by the artist MIDABI, this steel sculptural text piece stands at 10 feet tall and 20 feet long, covered in a silver acrylic paint. His original literary works of esoteric origin are formed into visual art and produced for public display as a means of sharing information. Although agitation is a primary effect, and the approach can be cryptic, the work has an empathic core value that reaches a wide array of individuals.

Rubem Robierb, Dream Machine II and The Peace Makers
On view through April 30, 2022
Randall’s Island Park, Manhattan
Dream Machine II is a tribute to the human spirit in the shape of a pair of wings. The wings take flight to carry the hopes of an increasingly challenged generation that dreams of a fair and just society. Inspired by recent and ongoing events and protests for racial justice, The Peace Makers is a 10-foot sculpture that serves as a tribute to peace makers around the world, who tirelessly fight for peace and justice.

Joanne Howard, The Elders
On view through November 30, 2021
Carl Schurz Park, Manhattan
The Elders is comprised of small brass sculptures cast from carved apples. Artist Joanne Howard creates these works by first carving faces into apples before letting them sit for a period of time. As the apples dehydrate, their faces take on the role of wizened elders. Howard sees these miniature characters as guardians of nature, here to protect the natural environment and gently remind passersby of the preciousness and precarious state of our green spaces.

Noa Bornstein, Peace Gorilla
On view through August 15, 2021
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, Manhattan
Cast in bronze in 2020, this friendly sculpture was originally created by Brooklyn-based artist Noa Bornstein ten years ago out of sisal fiber and burlap in structolite and plaster over an armature of wire mesh and plumbing sections. The sculpture is mounted on a low concrete base inscribed with the word for ‘friend’ in 90 languages—beginning with the six official languages of the UN--all learned or verified with speakers of the languages over the last year.

Various Artists, Up South
On view through July 30, 2021
Colonel Charles Young Playground, Manhattan
Up South interprets and honors those who birthed the movements leading up to the Harlem Renaissance, and beyond, to forge a continuum of Black thinkers and excellence that amplify the historical contributions of African/Black/Americans in Harlem. The exhibit reflects on the movement and embraces the imagery of textile art to move the narrative forward. This visual interpretation in textile features the work of artists Laura R. Gadson, Sylvia Hernandez, Oluwaseyi Awoyomi, and Ife Felix. Their works honor the contributions of Casper Holstein, the Harlem Hellfighters 369th Regiment Orchestra, Georgina Douglas Johnson, Lois Mailou Jones, Aaron Douglas, and the northward migration to Harlem.

QUEENS

Yvonne Shortt with Mayuko Fujino, Joel Esquite, Anna Sedove, Elizabeth Barksdale, Peppermint
On view through June 11, 2022
Forest Park, Queens
Made of porcelain, metal, and acrylic, this mixed media installation reminds dog owners to clean up after their four-legged friends. This work is inspired by artist Yvonne Shortt and her adventures in Forest Park’s dog run with her Airedale terrier Peppermint. This exhibition is presented by RPGA Studio, Inc.

Shervone Neckles and BEAM, BEACON
On view through August 15, 2021
Lewis H. Latimer House Museum, Queens
BEACON is inspired by African American inventor Lewis H. Latimer and his 1881 patent for the electric lamp and 1882 patent for processing carbon filament in the incandescent light bulb. It is a replication of Latimer's mechanical drawing of the incandescent light bulb and carbon filament. The fabrication process is designed to align the Beam Center’s mission of bridging the humanities and STEAM disciplines to improve the conditions of our society with the living legacy of a local and historical pioneer.

STATEN ISLAND

Musa Hixson, Healing Arch
On view through June 17, 2022
Tompkinsville Park, Staten Island
Healing Arch is an 8 ½ foot tall stainless steel sculpture that is inspired by a photo of Eric Garner. The artwork prompts others to stand in the shoes of the humanity of someone like Garner, to experience human love, imagining a hug, or standing in meditation as you take in a view of the surroundings. It gives us an opportunity for pause and reflection. Healing Arch is the result of a long community-driven selection process managed by The Friends of Tompkinsville Park to find an artist who could create a symbol to launch their Peace Justice & Healing Community Campaign.

About Art in the Parks
For over 50 years, NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program has brought contemporary public artworks to over 200 of the city’s parks, collaborating with arts organizations and artists to produce over 2,000 works by 1,300 notable and emerging artists. For more information on works currently on view, and for tips on how to exhibit with Parks, visit nyc.gov/parks/art.

Know Before You Go

Col. Charles Young Playground