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Accessibility2024 Arsenal Gallery Exhibits
Exhibits by Year:
The Arsenal Gallery is located at 64th Street and Fifth Avenue inside Central Park, Third Floor of the Arsenal Building. Gallery hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. (Closed municipal holidays.) Admission is free. For further information please call (212) 360-8163.
Know Before You Go
Current Exhibit
January 24, 2025 – March 14, 2025
Opening Reception:
January 23, 2025, 6-8 pm
Christopher Spinelli: Brooklyn Dreamland, Land without Shadows
NYC Parks is pleased to present Brooklyn Dreamland, Land without Shadows, an exhibition of paintings and drawings by Christopher Spinelli depicting a bygone era of Coney Island on view at the Arsenal Gallery.
In the late 1980s, Spinelli was encouraged by illustrator Robert Weaver to get out of the studio and explore real life. Childhood trips piled in his father's car in search of crinkle-cut fries led him to the B train, where he rode to the end of the line. "I began talking to the denizens of Coney Island, who were usually huddled in and around Nathan's for warmth; I drew them while they regaled me with their stories. Some of those first sketches are included in this exhibit." Inspired by buzzing neon signs and accumulated layers of peeling paint, Spinelli began producing the wonderfully garish acrylic works featured in this exhibition.
This exhibition is organized by NYC Parks Art & Antiquities.
Image Credit: Christopher Spinelli, This Way to the Spookarama, 2021, acrylic paint, 48” x 36”
Past Exhibits
December 5, 2024 – January 2, 2025
Opening Reception:
December 5, 2024 6-8pm
42nd Annual Wreath Interpretations
Wreath Interpretations returns for its 42nd year with over 30 novel wreaths guaranteed to spark your holiday spirit.
NYC Parks celebrates its time-honored tradition, though there's nothing traditional about these wreaths. Wreaths are selected for their unconventional interpretations of the classic holiday symbol and use of often unusual materials. With themes from native botany to the postmodern period, featured wreaths are created by individuals from all walks of life and depict a wide range of subject matter. Visitors will see wreaths made of alarm clocks, faux fireworks, confetti, money, paper bags, and much more.
This exhibition is organized by NYC Parks Art & Antiquities.
Image: Frazier Moore, Beginning to Look a Lot Postmodern, 2024
September 13, 2024 – November 12, 2024
ALTER ECO
Featured Artists: Edrex Fontanilla, Emma Gasterland Gustafsson, Evgenia Emets, Julia Oldham, and Sarah Wright
NYC Parks is pleased to present the group exhibition ALTER ECO, featuring artists evoking alternate environmental realities, using innovative approaches and materials to encourage environmental stewardship.Wielding technology, scientific research, and invention, these artists tackle one of the great issues facing climate activists: inspiring care beyond one's own lifetime. Works in this exhibition help facilitate an alternate experience of our environment, allowing for deeper connection across space and time.
This exhibition is organized by NYC Parks Art & Antiquities.
Image: Julia Oldham, Dendrostalkers (video still), 2022
June 14, 2024 – August 22, 2024
Adrian Kondratowicz: TRASH project
TRASH project is an exhibition of collaged artworks by New York City-based artist Adrian Kondratowicz. This body of work highlights community volunteerism and features a common motif: hot pink, polka-dotted trash bags. Kondratowicz first produced these eye-catching garbage bags in 2008, as an art project drawing attention to the large amount of trash that accumulates on city streets. Over time, the project evolved from a social art project into a series of monthly park cleanups in Manhattan's St. Nicholas Park, an extension of the artist's studio, and other public spaces around the world. Since 2020, the ubiquitous pink bags have found their way into Kondratowicz's collaged paintings, often featured alongside portraits of volunteers that mark the project's return to its artistic origins.
Image: Adrian Kondratowicz, Untitled, 2024, plastic collage on panel
March 28, 2024 – May 30, 2024
One Leaf, One Community: Memories in Our Parks
One Leaf, One Community: Memories in Our Parks is a photographic exhibition highlighting the power of shared experience in community building. NYC Parks employees spend their workdays caring for the city’s green spaces, but our parks are also home to their most cherished personal experiences. Visitors will find snapshots of engagements and weddings, childhood memories, gatherings with friends and family, and other personal moments. The exhibit has been designed to expand as it progresses, and the public will be invited to join the NYC Parks family and add their own photographs during scheduled gallery events.
This exhibition is organized by NYC Parks Art & Antiquities and the Ebony, Emerald, Latino, Lotus, and Stonewall Societies.
January 25, 2024 – March 14, 2024
The Community Gardener Portrait Project: New York City
The Community Gardener Portrait Project: New York City, an exhibition of photographs and accompanying interview excerpts by Zachary Schulman. Over the past five years, Schulman has sat with 121 community gardeners in NYC. The exhibition features a selection of 34 portraits taken across all five boroughs and invites viewers to learn more about the creation and long-term stewardship of these green spaces.
The Community Gardener Portrait Project: New York City is presented by NYC Parks' Art & Antiquities division and GreenThumb.
Image: Zachary Schulman, Albe Arnob, 2023
December 1, 2023 – January 4, 2024
NYC Parks’ 41st Annual Wreath Interpretations Exhibition
A holiday tradition since 1982, NYC Parks welcomes the holiday season with Wreath Interpretations at the Arsenal Gallery. Now in its 41st year, this year's exhibition features more than 30 imaginative, whimsical wreaths handcrafted by Parks employees, artists, designers, and creative individuals of all ages. As in years past, the wreaths use unusual and unexpected materials to re-imagine the traditional holiday decoration. Visitors will see wreaths made of thumbtacks, dryer lint, a tire, steel scouring pads, plastic eyes, and candy wrappers.
Image: Audrey Zeidman, Insomniac Dream Lover, 2023, Plastic eyes and painted board
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