City Life Org

Photo: NYC Parks – 2021/2022 Granted work Sherwin Banfield, Going Back to The Meadows, A Tribute to LL Cool J and Performance at FMCP

—Grant Award Doubled for First Time—Increased to $10,000 for each Artist—Annual Art in the Parks Installations Coming to FMCP Fall 2023

The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park and NYC Parks announced the selection of the 2023 Art in the Parks: Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Grants awardees. Artists Jasmin Chang and Kisha Bari for their Hey Neighbor NYC proposal and Julia Sinelnikova for their Light Portal proposal have been named and awarded for two temporary art installations in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, located in the heart of New York City’s most diverse community. The 2023 works will be installed Fall 2023 and on display for up to twelve months.

This year, AFMCP has generously increased its Art in the Parks grant—the two 2023 granted artists each received an award of $10,000 to create and install their proposed artwork for FMCP—up from $5,000 in prior years.

Alliance for FMCP Executive Director Anthony Sama said: “Our Art in the Parks: Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park grants celebrate the park’s global heritage and contemporary cultural diversity while supporting our community and local talent. The 2023 granted proposed works truly exemplify the spirit of our program and we are delighted to have awarded them ten thousand dollars each to bring their concepts to life for all who visit Flushing Meadows Corona Park to enjoy and reflect upon.”

The 2023 Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Grant recipients are:

Artist: Jasmin Chang and Kisha Bari

Artwork Name: “Hey Neighbor NYC”

Artwork Description: New York City is a rich patchwork of communities formed by ethnicity, culture, race, and shared experience – from networks of new immigrants to multi-generational communities. Although New Yorkers share a common physical space, proximity alone is not enough to create genuine connection, understanding and tolerance for each other. The work of connection and trust between communities requires continuous and deliberate work. Hey Neighbor NYC does this work by connecting cultural communities across the five boroughs through photography, storytelling, and public art.

Artist: Julia Sinelnikova

Artwork Name: “Light Portal”

Artist Statement: “The park lacks a true contemporary art homage to the legendary Tent of Tomorrow, which will now itself be lit at night for the city’s new program. The Tent of Tomorrow was designed by Philip Johnson for the 1964 World’s Fair, however it is modeled off its Russian predecessors, namely the Shukhov Rotunda for the All-Russia Exhibition of 1896. “Light Portal” incorporates several elements of the original physical structure in a new design, with the many colors of the light disc above audiences to represent the diversity of languages and cultures in Queens. As a first-generation immigrant and nonbinary artist, I feel that it is important to bring the energy of a local femme, POC and immigrant fabrication crew to this homage, which interprets a complicated architectural legacy. During our current period of closed borders around the world due to politics, it is important to remember periods of greater international exchange of ideas, and collaboration. “Light Portal” envisions hope, progress, and growth, creating a meditative and playful space. The work will cast a kaleidoscope of healing colors onto viewers and the ground below during the sunlight, while also possibly incorporating solar-powered LED lights at night. The sculpture will measure at least ten feet square, comprised of steel and recycled acrylic.”

Art in the Parks: Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Grants

In its fourth grant cycle, AFMCP and NYC Parks partner to award early to mid-career artists with grants and year-long permits for temporary art placed in FMCP. Grant recipients are selected through an open application process and chosen by a committee of arts professionals and Queens community members, as well as NYC Parks and Alliance representatives. Submissions were judged according to artistic and creative merit, responsiveness to the surrounding community, and suitability to the site.

Prior Granted Artists/Works

2021-2022

Sherwin Banfield for Going Back to The Meadows: A Tribute to Queens Hip Hop Legend LL Cool J and Performance at FMCP, an eight-foot-high bronze sculpture of the Queens-born Hip Hop legend placed on a digital music platform. Haksul Lee for The Giving Tree, a sculpture made of recycled materials and a wind turbine to honor and bring awareness to environmental concerns in the Queens community.

2020-2021

Laura Lappi for 7 x 7 (HOPE), which explored the issues of space and the cost of housing in New York City. Jeannine Han/Dan Riley for Another Way It Could Go, which celebrated connections between local and universal communities.

2019-2020

Karl Orozco for Hospicio Cabanas (Playable Stage for Thunder Hawk), which interpreted Mexican archetypes, traditional drama, and tech into art and performance. Yvonne Shortt with Joel Esqute and Mayuko Fujino for Pavilion Landing, a playful sculpture inspired by the 1964/’65 World’s Fair which occurred in the park.

About Art in the Parks

Since 1967, NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks Program has consistently fostered the creation and installation of temporary public art in parks throughout the five boroughs. For more information, please visit www.nycgovparks.org/art-and-antiquities/art-in-the-parks

About the Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park

The Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park, launched in November 2015, is a public-private partnership created to support Flushing Meadows Corona Park with enhanced programming and services. The Alliance board is made up of civic, business and community leaders. Funds raised by the Alliance go directly into the park, unlike monies generated by the City, which goes into the General Fund. allianceforfmcp.org

About Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Queens’ flagship park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park was officially designated a City park June 3, 1967. Visited by approximately nine million people annually, the 898-acre space is home to several cultural institutions (Queens Theatre, New York Hall of Science, Queens Zoo and the Queens Museum) and some of New York City’s most famous sporting venues (Citi Field and the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center). The park provides free, open space in the heart of Queens providing access to athletic fields, picnic and barbecue areas, wetlands, meadows, lakes, and playgrounds, as well as free concerts, outdoor movies, walking tours and nature hikes for its highly diverse surrounding communities. As the original site of both New York City World’s Fairs, the park is still home to 40 World’s Fair sites and structures throughout its grounds.