Public Art
The High Line runs through one of the world's great art districts, and the project's connection to the arts has always been strong. Artists, art dealers, and gallery owners in the neighborhood were some of the High Line's first supporters.
Now, through our new High Line Art program, consisting of commissions and creative partnerships, Friends of the High Line continues to maintain the High Line's vital connection to the arts.
Autumn on the Hudson Valley with
Branches
VALERIE HEGARTY, AUTUMN ON THE HUDSON VALLEY WITH BRANCHES
The latest piece to debut as part of our High Line Art program is by artist Valerie Hegarty. The piece, entitled Autumn on the Hudson Valley with Branches, was installed in early November on the fence that divides the completed Section 1 from Section 2, which is under construction.
Valerie Hegarty's artwork often poses as artifacts of art history gone awry. Through the combination of real and fabricated components, Hegarty leaves the viewer to wonder at the veracity of the transformation. For the High Line, she will create and install a work that imagines a nineteenth century Hudson River School landscape painting that has been left outdoors, exposed to the elements. Hegarty’s painting is based on Jasper Francis Cropsey’s Autumn on the Hudson River of 1860, a bucolic landscape that shows none of the affects of the Industrial Revolution. Hegarty’s canvas is tattered and frayed, and the partially exposed stretcher bars appear to be morphing into tree branches, as if reverting back to their natural state.
Read More
The River That Flows Both Ways
SPENCER FINCH, THE RIVER THAT FLOWS BOTH WAYS
The inaugural artwork on the High Line, by artist Spencer Finch, is The River That Flows Both Ways. Its title comes from the original Native American word for the Hudson River, Muhheakantuck. This work is located on the High Line in the semi-enclosed former loading dock between 15th and 16th Streets, where the High Line passes through the Chelsea Market building. Finch transforms the site's existing casement windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a single day. To create the project, Finch photographed the Hudson River 700 times from the deck of a boat and then carefully matched each unique image to a pane of glass.
This installation is presented in partnership with Creative Time, and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, and is made possible by a generous grant from The Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Cultural Innovation Fund. This project was made possible, in part, through the generous support of Chelsea Market and in-kind support from Jaroff Design and Mison Concepts, Inc.
Read More
Watch the Thirteen Sunday Arts Profile of Spencer Finch
Kim Beck, Space Available, 2008.
KIM BECK, SPACE AVAILABLE
Kim Beck will create three sculptures resembling the skeletal framework behind advertising billboards. These blank forms will emulate the abounding indicators of the economic recession, such as empty storefronts and "For Sale" signs. Beck’s sculptures will have the illusion of depth when viewed frontally, but as viewers move past them, the side views will reveal that they are in fact totally flat; cut from perspective drawings and built like theater props.
A series of three sculptures will be installed on roofs of buildings close to the High Line. They will integrate seamlessly into the environment of the High Line neighborhood, echoing existing billboards and buildings in partial states of construction. The existence of the three will reinforce their visibility and help encourage visitors to rethink the logic of what they are seeing.
Exact locations and exhibition dates to be announced.
Read more
A rendering by the artist.
RICHARD GALPIN, VIEWING STATION
Richard Galpin is best known for creating altered photographs of cityscapes. His chosen method of manipulation is to cut and remove the top layer of the colored emulsion from his photographic prints, exposing the paper substrate. By eradicating part of the photograph, the imagery becomes altered to the point of total abstraction. Using clean lines and sharp angles, Galpin's technique produces works with an emphasis on geometric shapes, recalling early 20th century movements such as Constructivism, Cubism and Futurism.
For the High Line, Galpin will create a 'viewing station' that will function in a manner similar to his cut photographs. Park visitors will look through a viewing apparatus lined up with a metal screen from which geometric shapes have been cut. The combination of these two devices will give visitors an altered, abstracted view from the High Line. One of the wonderful experiences the High Line has provided to visitors is a new vista of Manhattan. Similarly, Galpin's artwork will offer a novel reconsideration of our surroundings.
Galpin's artwork will be located on the east side of the High Line, between 17th and 18th Streets, and will debut in May 2010.
Read more
Specials
SPECIALS
Specials is a collaboration between artists Lisa Sigal and Paul Ramírez Jonas, launched in June 2009. For this ongoing, roving art project, the artists have constructed a mobile unit composed of vendor carts and a 10 x 4 foot wall. On one side of the wall, they hang artwork by a wide range of artists; on the flip side, they serve homemade tacos, free of charge. Each time Specials is presented, the artwork and the type of taco change, in the manner of restaurants’ daily menu specials or art galleries’ changing exhibition schedules. This project deliberately blurs the boundaries between visual art, performance, social gathering space, and festive event. As the artists have stated, "Specials will continue to evolve following a desire to go beyond tired dichotomies of inside/outside, art audience/non art audience, viewer versus participant. It is not This or That; it is This and That."
Specials will be presented on the High Line in the 14th Street Passage (between 13th and 14th Streets). The planned schedule is as follows (subject to change):
• Thursday September 17, 4:00 - 8:00 PM
Featuring works by Fiona Tan and Regina Silveira, and a potato and corn croquette with red cabbage and avocado taco.
• Thursday October 1, 4:00 - 8:00 PM
Featuring artists who participated in the 1993 Whitney Biennial, including Janine Antoni, Byron Kim, Simon Leung, Glenn Ligon, Suzanne McClelland, Kiki Smith and Fred Wilson, and a squash, mushroom, and homemade hot sauce taco.
Read more about Specials
High Line Art is marked by newness and freshness, with an emphasis on site-specific pieces that respond to the uniqueness of the High Line in form, structure and concept. Our core goals are to provide and facilitate opportunities to artists to showcase their work in a public venue where they can reach wide audiences; to further enhance the excitement and uniqueness of the High Line; and to reinforce New York City, and in particular, the neighborhood around the High Line, as a vital cultural center.
The presentation of art on the High Line serves both artists and the public. The High Line is expected to attract 1 million visitors by the end of its first year, ranging from neighborhood residents to international tourists. For artists, the High Line offers an opportunity to reach a larger and more diverse audience than typically offered by most arts institutions such as commercial galleries or even museums. For the public, an encounter with an artwork in the public sphere can enrich their experience. A broad range of art genres and mediums will help expand notions of what constitutes public art, as well as where, when and how it is presented.
Selection and oversight of art on the High Line art is handled by Lauren Ross, the full-time Curator and Director of Arts Programs at Friends of the High Line, in conjunction with fellow staff and the curatorial staff of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
High Line Art consists of the following programs:
High Line Art Commissions: The principal component of High Line Art, this ongoing program commissions new artwork by artists at varying stages in their careers for temporary presentation on, in, under, and near the High Line. The work commissioned can fall under almost any genre or medium including, but not limited to, sculpture, painting, graphic arts, sound, video, spoken performance, and dance.
High Line Art Partnerships: This program allows Friends of the High Line to collaborate with other organizations throughout the city to present a wide range of arts on the High Line. Like High Line Art Commissions, these projects are flexible; they may present visual art, performance, dance, or other experimental genres.
The partnership model is one that has long been embraced by Friends of the High Line. Past collaborations on art projects include Joel Sternfeld’s remarkable photographs of the pre-renovation High Line, which were published by Steidl Books as Walking the High Line; the annual Kitchen High Line Block Party with the venerated performance space The Kitchen; and Spencer Finch's The River That Flows Both Ways with Creative Time. A partner on all art on the High Line is The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the public agency that has jurisdiction over the High Line.
High Line Art and Public Programs: Friends of the High Line runs a dynamic schedule of programs designed to engage, educate, and enrich a diverse audience of all ages. Varied program formats include lectures, panel discussions, walking tours, art-making workshops for families. Whenever possible, these programs are open to the general public, either free or at minimal charge.
A portion of these programs focus on High Line Art and broader issues relating to public art, and feature artists, curators, art historians, and other arts professionals. Art-related programs off of the High Line include walking tours to galleries and public art in the neighborhood, and events at partner organizations.
Past art-themed programs have included Chalk Shoes to the High Line, a performance choreographed by Julia Mandle, featuring local eighth-grade students; the High Line Portrait Project with photographer Tom Kletecka; Fritz Haeg's "Edible Estates" at the Hudson Guild; and the presentation of art by Michael DeFeo, Jason Hackenwerth, Jeff Ladoceur, and others at the Target High Line Street Festival.
View our Events Calendar
Now, through our new High Line Art program, consisting of commissions and creative partnerships, Friends of the High Line continues to maintain the High Line's vital connection to the arts.
Now On View
Autumn on the Hudson Valley with Branches
The latest piece to debut as part of our High Line Art program is by artist Valerie Hegarty. The piece, entitled Autumn on the Hudson Valley with Branches, was installed in early November on the fence that divides the completed Section 1 from Section 2, which is under construction.
Valerie Hegarty's artwork often poses as artifacts of art history gone awry. Through the combination of real and fabricated components, Hegarty leaves the viewer to wonder at the veracity of the transformation. For the High Line, she will create and install a work that imagines a nineteenth century Hudson River School landscape painting that has been left outdoors, exposed to the elements. Hegarty’s painting is based on Jasper Francis Cropsey’s Autumn on the Hudson River of 1860, a bucolic landscape that shows none of the affects of the Industrial Revolution. Hegarty’s canvas is tattered and frayed, and the partially exposed stretcher bars appear to be morphing into tree branches, as if reverting back to their natural state.
Read More
The River That Flows Both WaysThe inaugural artwork on the High Line, by artist Spencer Finch, is The River That Flows Both Ways. Its title comes from the original Native American word for the Hudson River, Muhheakantuck. This work is located on the High Line in the semi-enclosed former loading dock between 15th and 16th Streets, where the High Line passes through the Chelsea Market building. Finch transforms the site's existing casement windows with 700 individually crafted panes of glass representing the water conditions on the Hudson River over a single day. To create the project, Finch photographed the Hudson River 700 times from the deck of a boat and then carefully matched each unique image to a pane of glass.
This installation is presented in partnership with Creative Time, and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, and is made possible by a generous grant from The Rockefeller Foundation's New York City Cultural Innovation Fund. This project was made possible, in part, through the generous support of Chelsea Market and in-kind support from Jaroff Design and Mison Concepts, Inc.
Read More
Watch the Thirteen Sunday Arts Profile of Spencer Finch
Upcoming Projects
Kim Beck, Space Available, 2008.Kim Beck will create three sculptures resembling the skeletal framework behind advertising billboards. These blank forms will emulate the abounding indicators of the economic recession, such as empty storefronts and "For Sale" signs. Beck’s sculptures will have the illusion of depth when viewed frontally, but as viewers move past them, the side views will reveal that they are in fact totally flat; cut from perspective drawings and built like theater props.
A series of three sculptures will be installed on roofs of buildings close to the High Line. They will integrate seamlessly into the environment of the High Line neighborhood, echoing existing billboards and buildings in partial states of construction. The existence of the three will reinforce their visibility and help encourage visitors to rethink the logic of what they are seeing.
Exact locations and exhibition dates to be announced.
Read more
A rendering by the artist.Richard Galpin is best known for creating altered photographs of cityscapes. His chosen method of manipulation is to cut and remove the top layer of the colored emulsion from his photographic prints, exposing the paper substrate. By eradicating part of the photograph, the imagery becomes altered to the point of total abstraction. Using clean lines and sharp angles, Galpin's technique produces works with an emphasis on geometric shapes, recalling early 20th century movements such as Constructivism, Cubism and Futurism.
For the High Line, Galpin will create a 'viewing station' that will function in a manner similar to his cut photographs. Park visitors will look through a viewing apparatus lined up with a metal screen from which geometric shapes have been cut. The combination of these two devices will give visitors an altered, abstracted view from the High Line. One of the wonderful experiences the High Line has provided to visitors is a new vista of Manhattan. Similarly, Galpin's artwork will offer a novel reconsideration of our surroundings.
Galpin's artwork will be located on the east side of the High Line, between 17th and 18th Streets, and will debut in May 2010.
Read more
Recent Programs
SpecialsSpecials is a collaboration between artists Lisa Sigal and Paul Ramírez Jonas, launched in June 2009. For this ongoing, roving art project, the artists have constructed a mobile unit composed of vendor carts and a 10 x 4 foot wall. On one side of the wall, they hang artwork by a wide range of artists; on the flip side, they serve homemade tacos, free of charge. Each time Specials is presented, the artwork and the type of taco change, in the manner of restaurants’ daily menu specials or art galleries’ changing exhibition schedules. This project deliberately blurs the boundaries between visual art, performance, social gathering space, and festive event. As the artists have stated, "Specials will continue to evolve following a desire to go beyond tired dichotomies of inside/outside, art audience/non art audience, viewer versus participant. It is not This or That; it is This and That."
Specials will be presented on the High Line in the 14th Street Passage (between 13th and 14th Streets). The planned schedule is as follows (subject to change):
• Thursday September 17, 4:00 - 8:00 PM
Featuring works by Fiona Tan and Regina Silveira, and a potato and corn croquette with red cabbage and avocado taco.
• Thursday October 1, 4:00 - 8:00 PM
Featuring artists who participated in the 1993 Whitney Biennial, including Janine Antoni, Byron Kim, Simon Leung, Glenn Ligon, Suzanne McClelland, Kiki Smith and Fred Wilson, and a squash, mushroom, and homemade hot sauce taco.
Read more about Specials
About High Line Art
One of the many features that make the High Line so exceptional and rich is the presentation of contemporary art in, on and near the park. Artwork is a logical inclusion for the High Line; artists, gallery owners and art collectors were among the earliest supporters of its transformation into a public park space, and it runs through some of the most culturally significant neighborhoods of Manhattan.High Line Art is marked by newness and freshness, with an emphasis on site-specific pieces that respond to the uniqueness of the High Line in form, structure and concept. Our core goals are to provide and facilitate opportunities to artists to showcase their work in a public venue where they can reach wide audiences; to further enhance the excitement and uniqueness of the High Line; and to reinforce New York City, and in particular, the neighborhood around the High Line, as a vital cultural center.
The presentation of art on the High Line serves both artists and the public. The High Line is expected to attract 1 million visitors by the end of its first year, ranging from neighborhood residents to international tourists. For artists, the High Line offers an opportunity to reach a larger and more diverse audience than typically offered by most arts institutions such as commercial galleries or even museums. For the public, an encounter with an artwork in the public sphere can enrich their experience. A broad range of art genres and mediums will help expand notions of what constitutes public art, as well as where, when and how it is presented.
Selection and oversight of art on the High Line art is handled by Lauren Ross, the full-time Curator and Director of Arts Programs at Friends of the High Line, in conjunction with fellow staff and the curatorial staff of the Department of Parks and Recreation.
High Line Art consists of the following programs:
High Line Art Commissions: The principal component of High Line Art, this ongoing program commissions new artwork by artists at varying stages in their careers for temporary presentation on, in, under, and near the High Line. The work commissioned can fall under almost any genre or medium including, but not limited to, sculpture, painting, graphic arts, sound, video, spoken performance, and dance.
High Line Art Partnerships: This program allows Friends of the High Line to collaborate with other organizations throughout the city to present a wide range of arts on the High Line. Like High Line Art Commissions, these projects are flexible; they may present visual art, performance, dance, or other experimental genres.
The partnership model is one that has long been embraced by Friends of the High Line. Past collaborations on art projects include Joel Sternfeld’s remarkable photographs of the pre-renovation High Line, which were published by Steidl Books as Walking the High Line; the annual Kitchen High Line Block Party with the venerated performance space The Kitchen; and Spencer Finch's The River That Flows Both Ways with Creative Time. A partner on all art on the High Line is The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, the public agency that has jurisdiction over the High Line.
High Line Art and Public Programs: Friends of the High Line runs a dynamic schedule of programs designed to engage, educate, and enrich a diverse audience of all ages. Varied program formats include lectures, panel discussions, walking tours, art-making workshops for families. Whenever possible, these programs are open to the general public, either free or at minimal charge.
A portion of these programs focus on High Line Art and broader issues relating to public art, and feature artists, curators, art historians, and other arts professionals. Art-related programs off of the High Line include walking tours to galleries and public art in the neighborhood, and events at partner organizations.
Past art-themed programs have included Chalk Shoes to the High Line, a performance choreographed by Julia Mandle, featuring local eighth-grade students; the High Line Portrait Project with photographer Tom Kletecka; Fritz Haeg's "Edible Estates" at the Hudson Guild; and the presentation of art by Michael DeFeo, Jason Hackenwerth, Jeff Ladoceur, and others at the Target High Line Street Festival.
View our Events Calendar
