Park update: From 7am – 3:30pm on Monday, March 18 and Tuesday, March 19, the High Line will be partially closed between 23rd and 30th Streets due to construction. Visitors can enter and exit at the 23rd Street stair/elevator and the 30th/10th Street stair. The entrances from Hudson Yards, the Connector, and the Spur remain open.

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Photo by Timothy Schenck Photo by Timothy Schenck

Plinth

Opened in June 2019, the Plinth is the first space on the High Line—and one of the only sites in New York City—dedicated solely to a rotating series of new, monumental, contemporary art commissions. The Plinth is located on the Spur, on the High Line at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, where a large open space offers sweeping city views and a thriving gathering space for people. Artworks selected for the Plinth become part of the cityscape itself, remaining on display for 18 months. The Plinth was inaugurated with Brick House by Simone Leigh (2019), followed by Untitled (Drone) by Sam Durant (2021) and Pamela Rosnekranz’s Old Tree (2023).

 

Opened in June 2019, the Plinth is the first space on the High Line—and one of the only sites in New York City—dedicated solely to a rotating series of new, monumental, contemporary art commissions. The Plinth is located on the Spur, on the High Line at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, where a large open space offers sweeping city views and a thriving gathering space for people. Artworks selected for the Plinth become part of the cityscape itself, remaining on display for 18 months. The Plinth was inaugurated with Brick House by Simone Leigh (2019), followed by Untitled (Drone) by Sam Durant (2021) and Pamela Rosnekranz’s Old Tree (2023).

 

Pamela Rosenkranz’s Old Tree

Now on view

The current High Line Plinth commission on view is Old Tree, a 25-foot-tall sculpture in vivid pink and red, by artist Pamela Rosenkranz. Old Tree brings to life mythical archetypes of the tree of life connecting heaven and earth. The tree’s color resembles the branching systems of human organs, blood vessels, and tissue, inviting viewers to contemplate the indivisible connection between humans and nature.

Learn more
About the Plinth

The High Line Plinth is a new landmark destination for public art, designed as the focal point of the Spur, the newest section of the High Line. Unlike most of the other sections of the park where visitors are moving along thoroughfares, the Spur is conceived as a natural gathering space. The Plinth serves as an anchor at the center of this piazza, creating a dialogue with the towering skyscrapers and arresting vistas of the immediate surroundings.

As the first location on the High Line that is solely dedicated to the presentation of art, the High Line Plinth provides artists an incredible opportunity to realize new and ambitious commissions on a scale rarely seen in the public sphere in New York. Inspired by the Fourth Plinth of Trafalgar Square in London, the large scale and high visibility of the Plinth offers artists a unique platform to inspire a diverse public audience and contribute to the ever-changing conversation around contemporary art and monuments.

The inaugural High Line Plinth was initiated by an international advisory committee of 13 artists, curators, and art world professionals who each submitted recommendations of artists to invite to submit a proposal for the Plinth. Twelve proposals were then selected from the initial group of fifty. Simone Leigh’s Brick House, known as Cupboard VII in the proposal stage, and Sam Durant’s Untitled (drone), were ultimately chosen as the inaugural High Line Plinth commissions.

Shortlisted proposals for the fifth and sixth plinth commissions

Learn about the 12 shortlisted artists’ proposals for the fifth and sixth High Line Plinth commissions, to open in 2026 and 2027.

Long list of proposals for the fifth and sixth Plinth commissions

See 56 artwork submissions for the fifth and sixth High Line Plinth commissions, proposed for installation in 2026 and 2027.

Sam Durant's Untitled (drone)

On view Spring 2021 – October 2022

With second High Line Plinth commission Untitled (drone), a large-scale fiberglass sculpture in the shape of an abstracted drone, artist Sam Durant seeks to make visible the intentionally obscured drone warfare perpetuated by the US, and to remind the public that drones and surveillance are a tragic and pervasive presence in the daily lives of many living outside—and within—the United States.

Shortlisted proposals for the third and fourth Plinth commissions

Learn about the 12 shortlisted artists’ proposals for the third and fourth High Line Plinth commissions, to open in 2023 and 2024.

Long list of proposals for the third and fourth Plinth commissions

See all 80 artwork submissions for the third and fourth High Line Plinth commissions, proposed in 2020 by a wide range of artists nominated by an international advisory committee.

Simone Leigh's Brick House

On view June 2019 – May 2021

The inaugural High Line Plinth commission, Simone Leigh’s Brick House, is a sixteen-foot-tall bronze bust of a Black woman whose torso is conflated with the forms of a skirt and a clay house.

Proposals for the first two High Line Plinth commissions

Learn more about the 12 shortlisted proposals for the first and second High Line Plinth commissions, selected from an initial group of 50 in 2017.

Explore

Commissions

We work with world renowned artists to commission temporary, site specific sculptures, installations and murals that are visible from the high line and the surrounding neighborhood.

Channel

Everyday at dusk at High Line on 14th street, we screen a rotating selection of video and art, including both new and historic works

Performances

Artists create participatory, dynamic performances and transformative experiences that take advantage of the High Line’s great setting.

Support

Lead support for High Line Art comes from Amanda and Don Mullen. Major support is provided by Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, The Brown Foundation, Inc., and Charina Endowment Fund.

Major support for the High Line Plinth is provided by members of the High Line Plinth Committee and contemporary art leaders committed to realizing major commissions and engaging in the public success of the Plinth: Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip E. Aarons, Jennifer and Jonathan Allan Soros, Elizabeth K. Belfer, Fairfax Dorn, Kerianne Flynn, Hermine Riegerl Heller, Janine and J. Tomilson Hill, The Holly Peterson Foundation, Annie Hubbard, Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, Jennifer Levitt, W. Scott McCormack and Noah Jay, Amanda and Don Mullen, Douglas Oliver and Sherry Brous, Mario Palumbo and Stefan Gargiulo, Susan and Stephen Scherr, Eric Schwartz and Debra Fram, Susan and David Viniar, Olivia Walton, and Vivian and James Zelter.

Project funding for the High Line Plinth commissioning of Pamela Rosenkranz’s Old Tree is also provided by the Scintilla Foundation.

High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, and from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, under the leadership of Speaker Adrienne Adams.