Socrates Sculpture Park Thirty Years
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Tono Framis Abella, Vivien Abrams, Vito Acconci, Thordis Adalsteinsdottir, John Ahearn, Gabriela Albergaria, Brian Albert, Jonathan Allen, Paweł Althamer, Gavin Anderson, Scott Andresen, Ed Andrews, Nathalie Angles, Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock, Paolo Arao, Nicholas Arbatsky, Ivan Argote, Soledad Arias, Elisa Arimany, Patrick Armacost, Kenseth Armstead, ARTPORT_making waves, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Katrin Asbury, Robert Ashley, Lisa Anne Auerbach, Austin+Mergold, Ilan Averbuch, Antoinette Ayres, Darren Bader, Nairy Baghramian, Matthew Bakkom, John Baldessari, Lillian Ball, Gunilla Bandolin, Robbie Barber, Robert Barnstone, Ron Baron, Yto Barrada, Robert Barry, Martin Basher, David Baskin, Laurent Baude, Diann Bauer, Jesus Bautista Moroles, Kóan Jeff Baysa, Rachel Beach, Justin Beal, Chelsea Beck, Jarrod Beck, Kim Beck, Saul Becker, Charlotte Becket, Dave Beech, John Beech, Jérôme Bel, Jesus Benavente, Emilie Benes Brzezinski, Sylvia Benitez, Jane Benson, Jane Benson & Ajay Kurian, Jesse Bercowetz, Michael Berens, Tanyth Berkeley, Jean Paul Berrenger, Sanford Biggers, Tom Bills, Riccardo Biondi, John Bjerklie, Robert Blackson, Ronald Bladen, Isidro Blasco, Miriam Bloom, Suzanne Bocanegra, Mel Bochner, Inken Boje, Chakaia Booker, George Boorujy, John Borba, Andrew Bordwin, Gloria Bornstein, Lee Boroson, Clifford Borress, Mathieu Borysevicz, Liene Bosquê, Javier Bosques, Strauss Bourque-LaFrance, Andrea Bowers, Robert Boyd, Travis Boyer, Daniel Bozhkov, Bob Braine, Sarah Braman, Floris Brasser, Ethan Breckenridge, Claude Bredif, Andrew Brehm, Baard Breivik, Joanne Brockley, David Brooks, Melissa Brown, Pam Brown, Matt Bua, Bill Buchen, Mary Buchen, Miggy Buck, Susan Burek, Joyce Burstein, Edward Burtynsky, Ryan Buyssens, Margarita Cabrera, Mike Cadwell, Jedediah Caesar, Melissa A. Calderon, Luisa Caldwell, Robert Caldwell, Matt Callinan, Beth Campbell, The Canary Project (Annie Murdock, Ed Morris, Jussara Lee), Sebastien Enrique Carbajal, Sari Carel, Tom Carruthers, Kabir Carter, José Carlos Casado, Shaun Cassidy, Rosemarie Castoro, Michael Cataldi, Alberto Cavalieri, Jennifer Cecere, Alejandro Cesarco, Lea Cetera, Lionel Chalaye, Rachael Champion, Gordon Everett Chandler, Lishan Chang, Colin Chase, Eduardo Chillida, Dachal Choi, Jinkee Choi, Cecile Chong, Andrea Christens, Christoff : Finio Architecture, Tom Christopher, Onyedika Chuke, Vincent Ciulla, Tom Clancy, Jean Clareboudt, John Clement, Tim Clifford, Maria Cocchiarelli, Malcolm Cochran, COCO144, Peter Coffin, Zachary Coffin, Roland Cognet, Nancy Cohen, Daniel Coleman, Pilar Conde, Jon Conner, Dennis Connors, Jillian Conrad, Houston Conwill, Miles Coolidge, Ian Cooper, Justine Cooper, William Cordova, Claire Corey, Esperanza Cortes, Connee Mayeron Cowles, Fuller Cowles, John Crawford, Anna Craycroft, Gregory Crewdson, Susan Crowder, Emilio Cruz, Minerva Cuevas, Joy Curtis, David Kennedy Cutler, Adam Cvijanoic, Cletis DaglishSchommer, Sara Daleiden, Danilo Danziger, Chris Dashke, Samara Davis, Zack Davis, Aris de Bakker, Lieven de Boeck, Priscila De Carvalho, Rob de Mar, Robert de Saint Phalle, Blane De St. Croix, Tony de Varco, Christian de Vietri, Stephen Dean, Tacita Dean, Kurt DelBanco, Anne Deleporte, Alison Dell & Rob Swainston, Michael Delucia, Elizabeth Demaray, Agnes Denes, Julie Dermansky, Abigail DeVille, Mark di Suvero, Brent Everett Dickenson, Guy Dill, Terry Lee Dill, Mark Dion, Jim Donahue, Sarah Dornner, Jona Dos Santos, Patrick Dougherty, Chris Doyle, Jeanette Doyle, Tom Doyle, Ellen Driscoll, Peter Dudek, Trenton Duerksen, Chris Duncan, Andrew Dunnill, Jonathan Durham, Jacob Dyrenforth, Torkwase Dyson, The E-Team, Barbara Edelstein, Carla Edwards, Melvin Edwards, Elizabeth Egbert, Elmgreen & Dragset, Tracey Emin, Aniko Erdosi, Ronald Ervolino, Tamar Ettun, Peter Eudenbach, Lauren Ewing, Rachel Fainter, Tory Fair, Cathy Fairbanks, Adriana Farmiga, Heide Fasnacht, Thomas Faulkner, Tony Feher, Cui Fei, Johann Feilacher, Emily Feinstein, Jessica Feldman, Elise Ferguson, Brendan Fernandes, Joan Fernandez Lopez, Jackie Ferrara, Václav Fiala, Francesco Finizio, Rosemarie Fiore, Deborah Fisher, Lars Fisk, Claudia Fitch, Jeanne Flanagan, Nellie Fleischner, Linda Fleming, Luz Fleming, Fletch, Harrell Fletcher, Gene Flores, flotsam, Flux Factory, Ron Fondaw, Toni Giro Fontanals, Peter Forakis, William Forsythe, Mary Frank, Nadja Frank, Daniele Frazier, Gary Fredriksen, Lilah Freedland, Martha Friedman, Ric Fry, Kouichiro Fujii, Meschac Gaba, Mark Gagnon, Cameron Gainer, Galería Perdida, Beth Galston, Elaine Gan, Chitra Ganesh, Linda Ganjian, Marc Ganzglass, Ted Garner, James Garvey, Dylan Gauthier, Del Geist, Orly Genger, Michel Gerard, Lillian Gerson, Paul-Armand Gette, Cristos Gianakos, Scott Gilliam with Dick Robinson, Kate Gilmore, Kathleen Gilrain, Jules Gimbrone, Charles Ginnever, Hope Ginsburg, John Giorno, Karin Giusti, Shaun Gladwell, DeWitt Godfrey, Ben Godward, Monika Goetz, Darren Goins, Nancy Goldenberg, Maximilian Goldfarb, Charles Goldman, Gail Goldsmith, Elissa Goldstone, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Mitchell Goodman, Douglas Gordon, Mark Gordon, Rebecca Gordon Nesbitt, Eric Gould, Peter Gould, Jessica Grable, Joel Graesser, Rebecca Graves, Konstantin Grcic, Ethan Greenbaum, Jesse A. Greenberg, Kenny Greenberg, Shawn Greene, Katie Grinnan, Jordan Griska, Susan Griswold, Alicia Grullon, Barbara Grygutis, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Tamara Gubernat, Charles Gute, Wade Guyton, Wenda Habenicht, Jason Hackenwerth, James Haddrill & Daniel Roberts, Mark Hadjipateras, Frank Haines, Claes Hake, Nade Haley, Ben Hall, Michael Hall, Anna Halprin, Rena Julieta Hanono, Chris Hanson, Bob Haozous, Dave Hardy, Keith Haring, Charles Harlan, Heather Hart, Kimberley Hart, Ingrid Hartlieb, Don Harvey, Tadashi Hashimoto, Maren Hassinger, Jeffrey Hatfield, Davey Hawkins, Hugh Hayden, Lisa Hein, Sabine Heinlein, Sally Heller, Terry Hempfling, Lena Henke, John Henry, Nicholas Herman, Dmitri Hertz, Corin Hewitt, Robert Hickman, Rachel Higgins, Jene Highstein, Robin Hill, Ken Hiratsuka, Annamarie Ho, Christopher Ho, Klara Hobza, John Hock, Madeline Hollander, Eric Hongisto, Takashi Horisaki, Nina Horisaki-Christens, David Horvitz, Hou de Sousa, Otis Houston Jr. (AKA Black Cherokee), Rebecca Howland, Satch Hoyt, James Huang, Ryan Humphrey, Kate Hunt, Glenda Hydler, Charlotte Hyzy, Akiko Ichikawa, Cristina Iglesias, Janelle Iglesias, IK Studio, Klaus Illi, Yoko Inoue, Jon Isherwood, Georgina Jackson, Roxanne Jackson, Gillian Jagger, Vandana Jain , Meredith James, Hong Seon Jang, Karl Jensen, Koo Jeong-A, Jae-Choul Jeoung, Natalie Jeremijenko, Olalekan Jeyifous, Sook Jin Jo, Bruce Johnson, Jim Johnson, Michael Clyde Johnson, Paddy Johnson, Tamara Johnson, Danny Johnston, Joan Jonas, Michael Joo, Jerome Haferd & K. Brandt Knapp, Ilya Kabakov, Martine Kaczynski, Brad Kahlhamer, Rajkamal Kahlon, Howard Kalish, Yoshiko Kanai, Jesal Kapadia, Linda Kaplan, Fitzhugh Karol, Sheree Kaslikowski, Tim Kaulen, Germaine Keller, Mike Kelley, Ray Kelly, Žilvinas Kempinas, McKendree Key, Osman Khan, Renee Kildow, Aaron King, Dave King, Zak Kitnick, Mark Klassen, Wendy Klemperer, Bozidar Klemperle, Ross Knight, Chelsea Knight & Jonathan VanDyke, Todd Knopke, Alison Knowles, Grace Knowlton, Win Knowlton, Lynn Koble, Christine Koch, Kat Kohl, Miwa Koizumi, Tamara Kostianovsky, Tom Kotik, Craig Kraft, David Kramer, Peter Kreider, David Krepfle, Lilian Kreutzberger, Michael Krondl, Henner Kuckuck, Monika Kulicka, Suzanne Lacy, Rosemary Laing, Alix Lambert,
Summer Solstice, 2013
Maren Hassinger Three Bushes, 1988 (Detail) Sculptors Working
Dancer Phillippe Priasso in Transports Exceptionnels by Compagnie Beau Geste, 2008
Lucha Libre, featuring El Conquistador, 2013
Tamar Ettun One Thing Leads to Another: Part 3, 2012 EAF12: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
Mark di Suvero Galileo, 1996 Pop-Up
Hou de Sousa Sticks, 2016, FOLLY Within: Free art-making workshops
Kenneth Pietrobono Selections From the Modern Landscape, 2013 EAF13: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
Outdoor Cinema, 2006
Odysseus at Hell Gate: An East River Puppetscape conceived, designed and directed by Alex Kahn and Sophia Michahelles, 2011
Žilvinas Kempinas Scarecrow, 2014
John Giorno Eating the Sky, 2012 Broadway Billboard
Socrates Sculpture Park Thirty Years
Aerial photography of the park site, 1985
George Trakas Sunion Point, 2012 Civic Action: A Vision for Long Island City
Introduction
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Park
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Art
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Community
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From the Archives
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Timeline
113 122
Socrates Sculpture Park: A Truly Public Space Inner-Vision All of It Praising the Eternal Wonder
Programs and Partners
Site preparation, 1986
Introduction In 1986 a bold plan was envisioned and begun: transform an abandoned waterfront site into an open urban space for producing and presenting art—free and accessible to all. This was the vision of artist Mark di Suvero, who turned a dream into reality when he created Socrates Sculpture Park, a place where art and artists are the driving force—historically, today, and tomorrow. Over the last thirty years, Socrates has supported the creation of over 1,000 artist projects; has reclaimed an illegal dumpsite by transforming the land into an urban park; and has served the community with arts education and creative experiences for thousands of families, children, and youth. Socrates Sculpture Park maintains a steadfast belief in the transformative power of art, community engagement, and stewardship of the environment as essential to our humanity. Socrates Sculpture Park is a very early model of “creative place-making,” now a successful strategy used by municipalities throughout the country to harness artists and arts organizations as catalytic agents to reclaim and revitalize neighborhoods. Thirty years later, the park’s mission remains the same yet different, as it evolves to mirror the needs of the community and follow artists as they respond to our 21st century world. Di Suvero’s provocative and compelling vision, coupled with exceptional tenacity, has inspired others to move the founding ideals forward, cultivate (quite literally) and nurture a sense of place, and expand our relationship with art by supporting artists to create their own visions. From
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the beginning Socrates has involved the community and been guided by the passion and ideas of individuals. Staff, ardent supporters, and partner community groups have had a tremendous impact over the years in shaping the organization. We are incredibly grateful for our partnerships— many longstanding—of more than 50 civic and cultural organizations; together, we are able to offer a dynamic range of programs, from creating jobs for local residents to presenting international films on the waterfront. We are also grateful to our Board of Directors, and our individual, foundation, and government supporters, whose generosity ensures that everything we do is offered FREE. Every day. 365 days a year. What makes the park so extraordinary is not any one singular activity, program, or physical attribute, but rather the totality of the creative ecology and spirit that is cultivated here. Socrates Sculpture Park is the kind of place that engenders deep attachment and appreciation for its distinctive role in the cultural life of the city. I want to thank the extraordinary staff, as well as our artists, partners, community, supporters, and visitors for making Socrates such a special place. John Hatfield Executive Director
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Park New York City’s waterfront is facing its most significant transformation since the Industrial Revolution, when active trade, manufacturing, and commerce introduced toxic waste, sewage, and debris to urban shorelines. Depleted by the demands of industry and no longer a labor market for immigrant workers, once active urban shorelines were largely abandoned. The public housing boom of the 1940s and 50s focused on these areas, where toxic waste continued to pollute the waterfront. In Long Island City, Queens alone, three of the nation’s largest housing complexes emerged on the East River: Queensbridge, Astoria, and Ravenswood Houses. At the epicenter of these properties and at the intersection of the neighborhood’s two main streets— Broadway and Vernon Boulevard—five acres of newly formed landfill echoed the waning economy surrounding it. Formerly a port for offloading stone and sand, this neglected plot of landfill accumulated what the shipping terminal left behind, whether construction debris or collapsed piers. In 1986 in Long Island City, green space was a rarity and waterfront access even more so. When Mark di Suvero envisioned the transformation of these five blighted waterfront acres into a place for artists to make and present outdoor work and a neighborhood park for local residents, the community joined hands to reclaim the land for public use. The result was Socrates Sculpture Park, an open space created by artists and the community, which generated a lasting sense of ownership among visitors and
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strongly influenced the mission, programs, and goals of the organization. Today the Brooklyn/Queens waterfront is considered the backbone of New York City’s economic future, where property values are soaring, new residential development is unprecedented, and investment in infrastructure is strong. Situated here, Socrates is a place where its industrial past meets its residential future, where reclamation evolves into cultivation, where ownership emerges as stewardship, and where the local environment is threatened by global climate change. These are realities that motivate the park’s curatorial and programmatic decisions. Underlying Socrates Sculpture Park’s multiple roles as an artist studio and exhibition space, educator, performance venue, and civic commons, is its function as a neighborhood park, where stewardship, community, and accessibility remain paramount. Primarily through a longstanding partnership with local horticultural company, Plant Specialists, Socrates cultivates five acres of parkland with specialty gardens, from birch clusters to vegetable gardens, creating a permanent cultural oasis along an ever-changing waterfront. To ensure accessibility, the park is open every day from morning till dusk. There is NO ADMISSION and every program is FREE, creating an extraordinarily welcoming accessible environment to imagine, create, and experience public art.
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Site preparation, circa 1986 1st Outdoor Cinema, 1999
Our city’s 30,000 acres of parks and public spaces are the great equalizers of our society, bringing people of all backgrounds and walks of life together through a collective experience. Art and its impact on New Yorkers— especially kids—is integral to the park experience, and nourishes the soul. New York City has a long track record of “pop up” contemporary art programming that ignites people’s imaginations and stirs up conversation. Socrates Sculpture Park has been a leader in this endeavor over the last 30 years, providing a unique waterfront venue that promotes art and its creation. The park serves as a prime example of how reclamation, revitalization and creative expression in our natural environment can completely transform an urban public space. As we move forward advancing the City’s goals of even greater equity, we see art in our parks as essential to our mission of ensuring “one city,” and salute Socrates as a key program partner in this endeavor. Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP Commissioner, NYC Parks
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the little OPERA theatre of ny: Liberté, Egalité, et Fraternité, 2013
Socrates Sculpture Park: A Truly Public Space Jamie Bennett Executive Director, ArtPlace America
In this country, we regularly develop spaces that we call public, but that are not actually intended for all of us equally: the new park in a majority Spanish-speaking park in Los Angeles, CA with all of its signage in English. Or the streets here in New York City that we have chosen to police via stop-and-frisk policies that target males of color. It is all too clear who is actually welcomed to these “public” spaces. In Catie Marron’s City Squares, David Adjaye wrote that “space only becomes truly public when people recognize it and utilize it as such.” By that definition, Socrates Sculpture Park is truly a public space, recognized and used by art lovers and gardeners, sure;
but also by dog walkers and tai chi practitioners; honey eaters and kite flyers; movie watchers and uncles. Socrates is not a public space because it is free and open three-hundred-and-sixty-five days a year. That would just make it a Field of Dreams, sitting there, patiently waiting for us to come. The Park is a public space because it practices radical hospitality in the tradition of St. Benedict and Minneapolis, MN’s Mixed Blood Theater, actively and daily welcoming us in. Too many of our cultural institutions have adopted the model of the cathedral: a cloistered space where only the anointed commune. Socrates has taken the opposite
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John Landewe Clay Tennis Philosopher, 2012 SkowheganPERFORMS
approach: it is a 7-Eleven, a corner convenience letting us know that it likely has whatever anyone passing through might need. Or, to take another metaphor, I have come to think of the Park as New York City’s campfire. It is the public space where all of us gather to do any number of things, and just as importantly, to not do much of anything. In the middle of a world where the spaces we
share are too often regulated and regularly contested, Socrates is a public space—a truly public space —because there is no loitering here, only lingering. All of us recognize that. And all of us can use it.
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Jamie Bennett
Art Socrates Sculpture Park’s curatorial mission is informed by the singular circumstances of the park’s waterfront setting, skyline view of Manhattan, reclaimed green space, community programming, and its surrounding postindustrial neighborhood situated within one of the most diverse populations in the world. Artist-founded, artist-focused, the park is a space where artists are invited to respond with physical ambition, intellectual curiosity, and unfettered imagination. The park’s autonomous curatorial, artistic, and aesthetic license, in agreement with the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, distinguishes it from the majority of public art venues in urban spaces. This latitude allows for artists to challenge themselves and the public by pushing the boundaries of art in communal space. Curated group exhibitions and single artist projects have responded and emphasized the park as a unique place. Group exhibitions, do it (outside) (2013), Civic Action (2012), and Waste Not, Want Not (2008), as well as large-scale artist projects by artists Paweł Althamer, Agnes Denes, and Richard Nonas, have amplified visitors’ experiences and understanding. The annual Emerging Artist Fellowship and exhibition, formalized in 2001, is a testament to this approach. This public platform for artists has generated works ranging from pedagogical to absurd, from elegant to comic, from dystopian to idyllic. The breadth of these creations is a reflection of the plurality of the subjects explored by artists in relation to the varied audiences that come to the park.
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The Broadway Billboard series, started in 1999, illuminates the creation of a community through art. Engaging with the ubiquity of images in contemporary life, particularly in a city full of advertising, the series speaks to how the circulation and reception of shared images connects individuals across barriers. Recognizing sculpture and public art as multi-disciplinary, Socrates has featured all forms of art in the public realm. FOLLY, the park’s annual competition for a nonfunctional architectural project, in partnership with the Architectural League of New York, is one example. Begun in 2012, the program broadens Socrates’ dedication to dialogue about place-making and the built environment. Socrates has also explored an expanded notion of public art by presenting performance art through such series as Float and SkowheganPERFORMS, as well as through ephemeral projects and unconventional mediums. Among its most distinctive elements, Socrates provides open access and complete transparency of the process of making and installing art. Visitors are free to wander through the park, observing artists working in the open-air studios and installing their pieces. This unique condition, which does not exist in most museums, arts non-profits, galleries, or public art spaces, fosters a memorable relationship between the public, artists, and the artworks on view. The palpable intimacy with art that Socrates Sculpture Park offers the public is based on a belief that the creation and experience of art enriches lives and expands our sense of the world.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Rirkrit Tiravanija Untitled, 2012 Civic Action: A Vision for Long Island City Douglas Gordon Still Play Dead; Real Time, 2006 Broadway Billboard
Being an emerging artist fellow at Socrates was one of the most transformative experiences of my career. It was there that I began a project, “In Search of the Truth" that continues to flourish a decade later. It was also my first serious foray into sculpture and working with a fabricator that I continue to use. I was also able to work with and get to know several other artists. It has been amazing to come back over the years and revisit the many extraordinary and ambitious projects that have manifested in this space. It is such a unique space for artists in New York City and continues to offer immeasurable value to the community. I am so grateful to have been a small part of its remarkable history! Hank Willis Thomas Artist
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Chakaia Booker leads a free art-making workshop for local children, 2007
Inner-Vision Mark di Suvero Artist and Founder of Socrates Sculpture Park
The “inner-vision” is the most important dimension of original artistic thinking. To imagine what was not there and how to achieve it, not dream but work toward it, cause it to be—isn’t this the root/ route of artistic achievement? If you can’t dream it, you can’t do it. To bring the green of nature, the vision of the flow of waters to a concrete ruined dump is a worthwhile struggle for those who would rebuild their cities, rejuvenate and regenerate their communities. The green of nature is so necessary to human health—the joy of growth in springtime, or summer’s maturity —that parks become a physical necessity in a city like New York.
From the swimmer-diver view: imagine being a springboard, and being a springboard, feel the swimmer bouncing on it, the joy of the springboard giving to the perfect swimmer the high arch, the perfect dive. There is joy in fountains, water’s power in a running river and to have been part of so much living sculpture is improbable and gives hugely to the spirit/energetics. That the improbable becomes real can be immensely joyous. To see these artists bridge that gap between the imagined and the realized: see it from a young artist’s point-of-view—a chance! Maybe the biggest piece you have ever built, to be among one’s peers, to have that
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Jacob Dyrenforth, Opening Credits (New York), 2004 EAF04: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
dream made real; this is Socrates Sculpture Park. All art feeds the spirit, some more, some less. Let’s try: let’s become trees grown to our fullshape outer leaves’ reach, and ask the tourist Inuit which tree is the most beautiful, the chestnut or the pine? To have a chance to be “shown” to the art world and then….And finding one’s self working together (is this competition?) and the palpable friendship among artists becomes a source of energy, of artists respecting and helping each
other. This was beyond competition, with others helping, equipment and the team from Spacetime ready to do the multi-task: welding, cherrypicker, organizing, materials, etc. We had the joy of springboard inside of trees, felt the subsequent growth of the artists’ successes that came through; as shows, medals, commissions, professorships, foundations, GLAD of them! Being part of a team making art public, the visit is free. We have given as we could: Isamu Noguchi in the beginning; Dick Bellamy with connections and constant
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Mark di Suvero
Katie Mangiardi interpreting Joan Jonas’ Instruction (2002) as part of the exhibition do it (outside), 2013
Lone Wolf & Club Untitled, 2009 FLOAT 09
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Sook Jin Jo Color of Life, 1999 7,840,000 cu ft
support; Enrico Martignoni with passion, skill, and overtime; Martin Friedman with essential guidance; Ivana Mestrovic with organizing and poetry; and the workers from the neighboring public housing; the volunteers more than can be named here; the donors; and the brilliant board of trustees. Inner vision takes you so far, others take it beyond anyone’s expectations– meandering here and there arriving to unforeseen heights with new dreams ignited. I came out here and took on a wreck of a pier and found that this
four acres of garbage land was possible for other artists to work on. At the beginning, one worked in order to do the art—and I think that’s the dedication that Socrates has maintained through all these years. To have become a city park was such a long climb that only a few know all of it. But because it was so improbable, yet it happened, it has become a source of spirit/energy for the exhibiting artists and they made many beautiful works. You doubt it? Ask them. And you could have asked them, you could have been one of
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Mark di Suvero
Costume-making workshop at Halloween Harvest, 2005
those that walked through the Park and seen them/us working on the sculptures. Visibly, artists working art. Right in front of you. What we have done, others can do in other cities, countries, bringing together the cultural community and region, and a dedication (NO! a passion) for a renewal of desolate industrial zones, through an inner-visionmade-real in art. You can see that it looks like a city of dreams and everyone who lives in NYC knows better. But here
at Socrates a dream is made real and the park is for the people, for the artists, and for New York. In a place where the inner-vision, the dream, and the realization come together there is a feeling of wonder. Those who have made the art have the happy enrichment of wonder at their works. The public, freely wandering through park that is neither gallery nor museum and seeing the art, are given the “what is it� of wonder.
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Mark di Suvero
Community Socrates Sculpture Park generates and cultivates a sense of belonging by connecting artists and the artworks on view with public programming and community events. This genuinely integrated activation of “place� creates opportunities for people of all ages to engage, explore, and experience the park. The broad range of programs is strategically designed to engage audiences on every level of experience—intellectual, emotional, and physical. At Socrates one can create art, enjoy foreign films and contemporary dance, practice yoga and tai chi, listen to live music, or participate in an exciting series of community events that draw thousands of local residents and international visitors alike. One can participate just once or again and again, week after week, and year after year, as many have done over 30 years. The approach to social programming at Socrates is to foster a creative ecosystem that is integrated, both in regards to the waterfront landscape and greater community. Art-making takes place in an outdoor workshop where projects are designed to draw inspiration from the artworks on view, performances take place among the flowers and under the stars, and a weekly greenmarket provides fresh produce from New Yorkbased farms next to our own herb and vegetable gardens. The breadth and scope of programming has evolved and expanded over the years, deepening the connections between art, landscape, and community. Central to this integrated approach to public programming is a longstanding commitment, both practical and
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philosophic, to the development and cultivation of local community partnerships. It is through working together with more than 50 active partners—from public schools and city agencies to community organizations and grassroots initiatives—that ensures that the programs offered at Socrates are embedded with the public it serves. While new programs and partners are introduced each season, the model and practice of public programming at Socrates is deeply connected to the organization’s core values, mission, and original vision. For example, the park’s arts education is designed sequentially to spark and foster a lifelong love of learning and making, where children can essentially “grow up” making art at Socrates. Imaginations are initially sparked through an introduction to sculpture-making during Saturday Sculpture Workshops; then, children from youth and community groups can participate in Sculpture Camp; as teens, students in local public schools learn to develop their artistic visions and voices in the Sculpture Studio; and as college students, they can participate in internships to assist with the fabrication of the very artworks exhibited at Socrates. Creative joy, critical thinking, and visual expression are calibrated at each level of Socrates’ arts education programming. This cultivation of an environment—within a public space—where people of all ages and abilities can make and enjoy art, creates a vitality and impact within the local and greater community that serves to guide and inform the growth and direction of public programming at Socrates.
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Mark di Suvero leads student tour of the park, 2015 Long Island City Community Boathouse hosts free kayaking, 2013
Authentic intersections of contemporary art practice and current social justice issues take us beyond the predictability of temporary audience engagement, “community” access, and issue campaigns. True arts and social justice practice requires deep investments of vision, time, and humility with a collective belief in shared resources. Such investment is embedded in Socrates Sculpture Park’s philosophical approach and everyday practice, which values the making of art as labour, artists as contributors to both local and national economies, and cultural production as a critical component of healthy, vibrant communities. Socrates Sculpture Park is unique as it activates public parkland with the power of art and art making while simultaneously engaging its diverse audiences with the complex issues of our time. Michelle Coffey Executive Director, Lambent Foundation
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Halloween Harvest, 2007
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Author
All of It Praising the Eternal Wonder Phong Bui Artist and Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, and Publisher of The Brooklyn Rail
Gesturing his right hand downward in mid air, “Calmati,” Aristotle gently says. Proposing a few options of achievable truth, Plato’s right hand points up. Both dignified and frontal in contrapposto As they appear in the middle of the space. He much prefers casual conversation, as he always has, with A few worthy listeners. Socrates, like a crab, built to Move forward, can’t help but speak sideways! Theory of Recollection, an affinity for argument that fuels the perpetual “Dualism” of life and death, endlessly. To some, they have joined in to concur with the cyclical debate that sparks This perfect symmetry in Raffaelo’s Scuola di Atene. It was the Dream book, to others, that consoled this particular artist In the years of his exile until the fall of Saigon. Floating on a houseboat in a fjord in Vancouver Island dreaming, “If a laborer were to dream for twelve hours every night that he was a king.
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Earth Day Planting, 2005
I believe he would be almost as happy as a king who should dream For twelve hours every night that he was a laborer.” I suspect Pascal’s humility may have saved the artist from His vanity and social ambition. An abandoned landfill turns into a Socratic playground— Fostered creations are countlessly made on-site. Each becomes an integral ray of the radiant sun. Like many fables that tell how lotus flowers can blossom in The filthy, stagnant, unnamable pond. The constellation of names, the inventory of souls and the love of comrades, Have taken their turns to nurture these palpable manifestations Of a democracy of forms—thought-forms, feeling-forms, Forms erected as The Global Shrine of the Immigrant, singing a Song of Love and Hate; Vessel, Moonshadow II where Wild Geese have made their nests. Ozymandias proclaims spirits live in all things, and among things! Lifeless things that become alive and blissful. All that is Solid has slowly changed into Torqueing Spheres.
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Phong Bui
Yoga Class, 2012
Gap Ecology or Three Still Lives with Cherry Pickers and Palms refers To Walk On/Sit Down/Go Through before Artists [Who] Choose [Other] Artists. Full Life is fed by Grass Roots Art Energy. From Homebound, Replacement Valves, Cargo Cult for Lewis Mumford, Clavis Tower was miraculously constructed before the Tree/House. I can tell you the rhythm is always on. We appreciate the creators of the Broadway Billboard[s] who were Welcoming hosts at the gate. And, Just Before, we realized Suspect Terrain, Big Bang, Silver Horses with Wings all came after the Three Elements. Bughouse, Old Glory, Winter Light, Corn Crib II, hastily declare The World is Your Oyster. The Conversationalist says Diaspora, Burial/Birth are The same difference in the Field with an Open Space. Beyond City Limits, we all can dance, singing and Eating the Sky. There are one thousand something stars and counting: Harvest, Kolmos Kosmos, Resurrection and A Woman Walking Under a Scaffold. Somewhere in between, Two Indeterminate Lines introduces Jasper the Ghost Raymond and Toby. Border Crossing, Banishing the Poets no more! Lao Tzu, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Marianne Moore, Among others, would have approved. While others are working feverishly before dawn, Prometheus is seen forever rehearsing His daily routine From Here to There in Sculpture City, A new beginning For our internal wonder.
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Phong Bui
Agnes Denes The Living Pyramid, 2015 Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects
Mark Dion East River Biological Field Station, 2004 Field: Science, Technology and Nature
52
Vito Acconci Bughouse, 1985 Inaugural Exhibition
53
Heide Fasnacht Suspect Terrain, 2015
Mark di Suvero Old Glory, 1986 Inaugural Exhibition
56
Jarrod Beck Quarry, 2012 EAF12: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
57
Beth Galston Tree / House, 1994 International 94
58
Jackie Ferrara Two Eights to Fifteen Eights, 1996 10th Anniversary, Part 2
59
Kim Beck and Osman Khan When Laughter Trips at the Threshold of the Divine, 2008 EAF08: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
60
Peter Coffin Untitled, (Fixed Tower, Fast Times), 2002 EAF02: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
Paweł Althamer Queen Mother of Reality, 2014 A Performa Commission for Performa 13
Diann Bauer Icarus, Meet Apollo, 2013 EAF13: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
Ken Landauer King, 2007 EAF07: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
65
Brad Kahlhamer Corn Crib II, 1995 Pop Up
66
John Stoney Remember Me (1/10th Scale Sympathetic Model of Old Faithful Geyser), 2004 Field: Science, Technology and Nature
67
John Ahearn Daleesha, 1991 International 94
68
Allison Smith Trading Post, 2006 Interstate: The American Road Trip
69
Jerome Haferd & K Brandt Knapp Curtain, 2012 FOLLY
70
Robert Hickman Roosevelt Island Shuttle, 1998 Escape Velocity
71
Wangechi Mutu A Sunset Satire, 2013 Broadway Billboard
Manuel Neri Untitled (Standing Figure), 1990 No Man's Land
74
Matthew McCaslin Roots of the Niteshade Family, 2004 Winter Light
Thordis Adalsteinsdottir Bear Eats Man, 2013 EAF13: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
76
Wade Guyton Untitled Sculpture, 2003 EAF03: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
77
Lisa Hein Big Shot Rocker, 1988 Sculptors Working
78
Fernando Mastrangelo Feed, 2012 EAF12: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
Richard Nonas Agriculture (Gate to Gate), 1987 Walk On/Sit Down/Go Through
Mark Lawrence Stafford Transmission, 2010 Cityscape: Surveying the Urban Biotope
81
Dread Scott Jasper the Ghost, 1999 Ozymandias
82
Gedi Sibony Some Essential Parts in Temporary Alignment, 2002 View
83
Virginia Poundstone Wildflower Median, 2006 Interstate: The American Road Trip
Charlotte Hyzy Dessert Babes: Queer Fat Decadence, 2015 EAF15: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
86
Melvin Edwards Point of Memory, 1983 Inaugural Exhibition
87
Zaq Landsberg Skywatch Spider, 2014 EAF14: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
88
Ethan Long DDP (Digital Dirt Processor), 2004 Field: Science, Technology and Nature
89
Lishan Chang LC Space @ SPP, 2007 FLOAT 07
90
Pilar Conde Distracted by the Impossible Notion of Failure and Clarity, 2009 EAF09: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
91
Scott Andresen Fort Defiance North, 2010 EAF10: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
92
Orly Genger About To, 2004 EAF04: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
93
Jean Shin Penumbra, 2003 Open Space
94
Natalie Jeremijenko UP_2_U: FARMACY, 2012 Civic Action: A Vision for Long Island City
95
Chakaia Booker The Conversationalist, 1997 International 97
Toshihiro Oki architect pc tree wood, 2013 FOLLY
98
Bundith Phunsombatlert Wayfinding: 100 NYC Public Sculptures, 2012 EAF12: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
99
Leo Villareal Star, 2003 Winter Light
Alyson Shotz Mirror Fence, 2003 Yard
101
Salvatore Romano Moonshadow II, 1986 Inaugural Exhibition
Jane Benson The Waiting Room, Some Bird’s Paradise, 2003 EAF03: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
104
Joel Shapiro Untitled, For David, 2007 L.I.C., NYC
Aida Šehovi´ c Obstacle Course: Patriot Challenge I, 2013 EAF13: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
106
Alissa Neglia Lace, 1998 Escape Velocity
107
Alison Saar Fanning the Fire, 1988 Sculptors Working
108
Hank Willis Thomas The Truth Is I Am You, 2006 EAF06: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
109
Meg Webster Concave Room for Bees, 2016. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery LANDMARK
110
Austin + Mergold SuralArk, 2014 FOLLY
111
David Brooks Gap Ecology (Three Still Lives with Cherry Pickers and Palms), 2013
Marie Lorenz Man is Man Wherever You Find Him, 2004 EAF04: Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition
Timeline Socrates Sculpture Park’s history is an amalgamation of the passion of individuals, artistic endeavors, city planning, and community partners. Weaving together exhibitions, awards, land transfers, collaborations and partnerships, this timeline chronicles the evolution of the organization with significant milestones that accumulate to the organization today: a vibrant urban park and cultural anchor with art, performances, film screenings, arts education, community events, and more. Throughout the history of the park, our City partners, community, staff, ardent supporters, and most importantly artists, have collectively created a distinctive ecosystem of creativity and social commons on the waterfront of New York City.
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PARK
1986
1987
1988
Mark di Suvero, through the Athena Foundation, founds Socrates Sculpture Park on waterfront of Long Island City.
Socrates wins the Doris C. Freedman Award, established by Mayor Edward I. Koch in memory of the public art pioneer.
Socrates is honored with the Albert S. Bard Award of Merit for Excellence in Architecture and Urban Design.
1989
Tom Clancy, Sparrow, 1987
ART
Artists Choose Artists
Inaugural exhibition opens at Socrates Sculpture Park.
Outside In
Sculptors Working
Sculpture City
COMMUNITY
Walk On/ Sit Down/ Go Through
Athena Foundation Board of Directors— Mark di Suvero, Anita Contini, Barbara Haskell, Ruth Cummings, and Irving Sandler—begin process of establishing Socrates Sculpture Park as a non-profit organization. Enrico Martignoni is the park's first Director.
Exhibition brochure
NYC Mayor Koch attends Walk On/Sit Down/Go Through. (He does all these with the sculptures).
National Endowment for the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and New York State Council on the Arts begin supporting Socrates.
Future board member Martin Friedman receives National Medal of Arts from President George H. W. Bush.
1990
1991
1992
1993 Property transferred from the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services to Department of Parks & Recreation.
Socrates Sculpture Park becomes a 501(c)3 non-profit.
1994 Socrates formalizes its arts education programming, offering free art-making workshops for youth.
Socrates artists begin to lead art-making workshops for youth.
No Man’s Land
Grassroots Art Energy
Unbound
International Young Sculptors Program
Full Life
Eve Sussman, Schnuller, 1992
50NY93 presents fifty artists working in New York City.
Bongo Park International 94
Gunilla Bandolin, Solomon’s Well (For Frank Lloyd Wright), 1994
Eve Sussman becomes Executive Director.
Patrick Dougherty, Homebound, 1990
PARK
1995
1996
1997
Socrates inaugurates a fellowship for emerging artists.
Perimeter path of concrete pavers is installed, along with additional electric service.
Socrates is named a Great American Public Place by the America the Beautiful Fund.
1998 Socrates wins the National Recognition Award from the America the Beautiful Fund, as well as Citation of Honor, Office of the President, Borough of Queens, City of New York.
Escape Velocity
ART
Magdalena Abakanowicz, Standing Figure with Wheel, 1990
Pop Up
From the Ground Up
10th anniversary exhibition
All That Is Solid
COMMUNITY
International 97
Kouichiri Fuji, Circulation Origin, 1998 Exhibition poster
Kathleen Gilrain becomes Executive Director.
The Jerome Foundation and New York Community Trust begin supporting emerging artist fellowships.
Future board member Agnes Gund receives National Medal of Arts from President William Clinton.
Plant Specialists begins donating time, expertise and plants to improve park.
1999 19992000 20002001 20012002 20022003 2003 The The park earns thepark earns the Downstate Organization Downstate Organization Award for Advancing Award for Advancing Socrates Sculpture Socrates Sculpture Cultural Development in Cultural Development in Special Citation, Special Citation, Estimated Estimated Park is officially Park is officially Named “BestNamed “Best New New York State byYork the State by the American American Institute of Institute of attendance is 50,000 attendance is 50,000 assigned as Parkland assigned as Parkland Sculpture Park” by Sculpture Park” by Alliance Alliance of New York of New York Architects, Architects, on Decemberon 14,December 14, Village Voice Village Voice State Arts Organizations. State Arts Organizations. New York Chapter New York Chapter 1998. 1998.
First First ofNew York State screeningscreening of New York State Governor’s Arts outdoor outdoor Governor’s Arts Award Award summer summer films films
Hallets cove Hallets cove waterfront waterfront and beach and beach property added to property added to park park
First annual First annual
Lars Fisk, ScumLars Ball,Fisk, 2001Scum Ball, 2001 Halloween Harvest Halloween Harvest EAF01: EAF01: Emerging ArtistEmerging FellowshipArtist Fellowship
Socrates Socrates 7,840,800 cu 7,840,800 ft cu ft The Space Around The Space Around presents first presents first the Architect the Architect EmergingEmerging Ozymandias Ozymandias Artist Fellowship Artist Fellowship exhibition.exhibition.
EAF02
EAF02
View
View
EAF03
EAF03
Yard
Yard
FLOAT 03
FLOAT 03
Open Space Projects: Open Space Projects:
Winter Light Winter Light First Broadway First Broadway Yoko Inoue and Yoko Inoue and Open Space Project: Open Space Project: Broadway Billboard: Broadway Billboard: Troy Richards,Troy Richards, Billboard is Billboard is Michael Krondl Robert Blackson Michael KrondlRobert Blackson Joel GraesserJoel Graesser launched,launched, Open Space Projects: Open Space Projects: JeanMack, Shin, Anissa Mack, Jean Shin, Anissa featuring featuring Jesse Bercowetz, Matt Jesse Bercowetz, Matt Mathieu Mathieu Bua, Sabine Heinlen Bua, Sabine Heinlen Broadway Billboards: Broadway Billboards: Borysevicz. Borysevicz. Bob Braine, Bob Braine, Claire Corey Claire Corey Broadway Billboard: Broadway Billboard: Broadway Billboards: Broadway Billboards: Miles Coolidge Miles Coolidge Rosemary Laing, Rosemary Laing, Beyond City Limits Beyond City Limits Gregory Crewdson, Gregory Crewdson, Edward Burtynsky Edward Burtynsky onceremoved onceremoved
Alyson Baker Alyson Baker becomes becomes ExecutiveExecutive Director and Director and first full time first full time Ledelle2000 Moe, Untitled, 2000 Ledelle Moe, Untitled, employee.employee.
Long Island City Cultural Long Island City Cultural Alliance is formed. Alliance is formed.
Long Island City Long Island City Boathouse begins Boathouse begins free kayaking free kayaking program. program.
PARK
2004
2005
2006
First annual Summer Solstice
The Park celebrates its twentieth anniversary with first gala at Mark di Suvero’s studio.
New York City Development Achievement Award
Flicker video festival
First annual Kite Flight
2007
Noguchi Museum joins Kite Flight as annual partner.
EAF04
Field: Science, Technology, and Nature
ART
Flicker
Open Space: Harrell Fletcher
COMMUNITY
Broadway Billboards: Michael Joo, Jane and Louise Wilson
EAF05
EAF06
EAF07
Sport
Open Space Projects: Jon Connor, Coke Wisdom O'Neal
FLOAT 07 Interstate: The American Road Trip L.I.C., NYC
FLOAT 05
Broadway Billboards: Collier Schorr, Marc Ganzglass, Christopher Yockey
Baccalaureate School for Global Education begins partnership with Earth Day volunteers.
Jacob A. Riis Settlement Houses partners for art workshops.
Broadway Billboards: Los Angeles Urban Rangers, Douglas Gordon
Open Space Projects: Deborah Fisher, Michael Mercil, Takashi Horisaki
Hip to Hip Theatre begins annual productions of free Shakespeare.
2008 20082009 20092010 20102011 20112012 2012 An artist woodshop, An artist woodshop,
EstimatedEstimatedevents and studio events and studio containers containers added with added with attendance attendance decklights. and exterior lights. deck and exterior reaches reaches 100,000 100,000 1,000 artists 1,000 have artists have presented presented artworks in artworks in the park. the park.
Superstorm Superstorm Sandy floodsSandy floods park and office. park and office.
Margarita Cabrera, Margarita Arbol de Cabrera, la Vida—John Arbol deDeere la Vida—John Deere Model #790, 2007 Model #790, 2007
EAF08
EAF08
EAF12 EAF12 Emerging Artist Emerging Artist Fellowship Exhibition Fellowship Exhibition its tenth celebrates itscelebrates tenth EAF10 EAF10 State FairState Fair year with EAF11 year with EAF11 Action: Civic Action: Civic A Vision for A Vision for Long Long Island City is Island City is Vista produced in collaboration Vista produced in collaboration with the Noguchi with the Noguchi Museum. Museum. Socrates collaborates Socrates collaborates Waste Not, Want Not EAF09 EAF09 Waste Not, Want Not Cityscape: Cityscape: Museo del Barrio with El Museowith del El Barrio Socrates launches Socrates launches Surveying theSurveying Urban the Urban toS-Files present The S-Files to present The FOLLYfor competition for FOLLY competition Biotope Biotope emerging architects and emerging architects and FLOAT 09 FLOAT 09 Open Space Projects: Open Space Projects: designers, in designers, partnershipin partnership FLOAT 11 FLOAT 11 Open Space Projects: Open Space Projects: Barbara Westermann, Barbara Westermann, with the Architectural with the Architectural Jedediah Caesar, Jedediah Caesar, Frances Trombly, Leyden Frances Trombly, Leyden NY. Curtain by League of NY.League Curtainofby Dan Steinhilber Dan Steinhilber Rodriguez-Casanova Rodriguez-Casanova Jerome Jerome Haferd and Haferd and Broadway Billboards: Broadway Billboards: Space: Patrick Open Space:Open Patrick K Brandt K Brandt Knapp wins Knapp wins Stephen Shore, Stephen Shore, McDonough McDonough inaugural FOLLY. inaugural FOLLY. Jonathan Allen Jonathan Allen Broadway Billboards: Broadway Billboards: Broadway Billboards: Broadway Billboards: Broadway Billboard: Open Space:Open PenttiSpace: Pentti Broadway Billboard: Broadway Billboard: Broadway Billboard: Ethan Greenbaum,John Giorno,John Giorno, Ethan Greenbaum, Robin RhodeRobin Rhode Monkkonen Monkkonen Sylvan LionniSylvan Lionni Coco144 Coco144 Catherine Opie Catherine Opie
Hatfield becomes John HatfieldJohn becomes Executive Director. Executive Director.
the little OPERA the little OPERA theatre of ny theatre of ny performs for the performs for the first time. first time.
Board member Board member and founder and founder Mark di Suvero Mark di Suvero receives receives National Medal National Medal of Arts from of Arts from PresidentPresident Barack Obama. Barack Obama. and Plant Specialists Socrates andSocrates Plant Specialists launchWorks Community Works launch Community Initiative Program, a job Initiative Program, a job creationprogram and training program creation and training for local residents. for local residents.
Public high school Public high school Academy for Academy Careers infor Careers in Television and Film Television and Film begin begin program withprogram with Socrates to produce Socrates to produce online videos.online videos.
The Metropolitan The Metropolitan Opera’s Summer Recital Opera’s Summer Recital series (SummerStage) series (SummerStage) comes to Socrates. comes to Socrates.
board member Former boardFormer member and artist Martin and artist Martin Puryear receives Puryear receives National MedalSocrates of National Medal of Socrates launches a launches a Arts from President Arts from President weekly greenmarket weekly greenmarket Barack Obama. with GrowNYC. Barack Obama. with GrowNYC.
PARK
2013 Education area is improved and expanded with deck and structural tent.
Socrates starts free shuttle service with LIC ART BUS.
do it (outside)
ART
David Brooks: Gap Ecology
New website is launched with live webcam, E-publications, videos, and digital archive of 1,134 artists.
Socrates accepts donation of Lot-ek structure from Whitney Museum.
FACT OF THE MATTER first major Manhattan exhibition
Heather Rowe: Beyond the Hedges (Slivered Gazebo)
Žilvinas Kempinas : Scarecrow
EAF13
Paweł Althamer: Queen Mother of Reality
FOLLY2013: tree wood by Toshihiro Oki architect pc Broadway Billboards: Chitra Ganesh, Wangechi Mutu Off-site: Parting (Jerome Haferd and K Brandt Knapp)
COMMUNITY
2014
Rockrose Development Corp and Socrates partner to present off-site public art installations.
2015 Annual attendance is over 150,000 people.
FOLLY2014: SuralArk by Austin + Mergold Broadway Billboard: Meschac Gaba
Agnes Denes: The Living Pyramid Heide Fasnacht: Suspect Terrain
Socrates launches SkowheganPERFORMS.
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LANDMARK
EAF16
FOLLY2016 turns to function with Sticks by Hou de Sousa.
EAF15
FOLLY2015: Torqueing Spheres
Broadway Billboards: Vera Lutter, Duke Riley
Launch of expanded arts education program with Long Island City High School, Zone 126
Urban Upbound joins Community Works Initiative Program as a local recruitment partner.
New education trellis structure is installed.
Gabriela Albargaria: Two Trees in Balance
Broadway Billboards: Hank Willis Thomas, Lisa Oppenheim
50 different non-profit partners work with Socrates each year
Film Forum begins programming Outdoor Cinema international film series. Socrates partners with Norte Maar to present month-long performance residency, titled Dance at Socrates.
Socrates marks 30th anniversary with announcement of campaign to build the park’s first permanent building.
Park is officially mapped as NYC Parkland and acquires additional property.
EAF14 Off-site: Backyard Pool (Tamara Johnson)
2016
Randy James rehearses with 10 Hairy Legs Projects, Dance at Socrates, 2015
Author
Bill and Mary Buchen Wind Antenna, 1982 Inaugural Exhibition
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Programs Arts Education
Performance
The park’s extensive education program comprises five program areas designed to work together to spark, foster, and grow an appreciation for making and learning through sculpture. From drop-in, on-site Saturday workshops to semester-long, public school curricula, our integrated offerings support a holistic progression of art education. Our objective is consistent: to use a hands-on, engaged learning environment as a means for creative expression and critical thinking that inspires confidence in communication and independent thought.
Through collaborations with a variety of performing partners from across New York City, Socrates presents an eclectic and sophisticated mix of dance, music, and theater. Musical performances range from opera, jazz, and sound art to culturally-specific troupes and bands. The performing arts at Socrates include modern dance, ballet, and performance art, in addition to theatrical readings and Shakespeare.
Family Festivals Socrates produces an annual series of family-friendly festivals that include thematic kids workshops, performances, food, and a myriad of activities. These include the LIC Bike Parade, Summer Solstice Celebration, Festival of Kites and Kayaks, and Halloween Harvest.
Film Series Socrates presents Outdoor Cinema, an annual international film festival, which features a different country or culture each Wednesday evening. Throughout the eight-week summer series, films are paired with live international music and local food vendors representing each week’s featured country of origin, making for a diverse array of films, food, and music.
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Job Creation Program
Healthy Living
Continuing the community led clean-up efforts of the 1980’s, the park formalized a Community Works Initiative Program (CWIP) that identifies, trains, and employs residents of the community for part-time seasonal jobs each year. Toward the end of each season, CWIP “graduates” are often placed in full-time, year-round jobs at our longstanding partner, Plant Specialists, a premiere landscaping company in New York City. Seasonal volunteers and internships also provide high school and college students professional experience in arts administration. And for youth on the verge of entering the workforce, we host an annual professional development program that intertwines career exploration and self-empowerment. Participants work directly with representatives from the NYPD, FDNY, and U.S. Coast Guard to gain first-hand insight into their civic profession.
Socrates has designed a holistic program that includes free yoga, tai chi, and a Greenmarket—which has become the area’s home base for locallysourced fruits and vegetables, fresh bread, honey and juices. “Queens Food Day” offers workshops, focus groups, and local resources for healthy food practices and awareness. In keeping with the park’s mission and philosophy of inclusiveness, all programs are offered free to all.
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Support The free artistic, cultural, and social programming at Socrates Sculpture Park is made possible, in part, by major support from: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Booth Ferris Foundation, Charina Endowment Fund, Paula Cooper, ConEdison, Mark di Suvero, Deutsche Bank of Americas Foundation, Sidney E. Frank Foundation, Maxine and Stuart Frankel Foundation for Art, Jerome Foundation, Agnes Gund, The Kayden Family, Lambent Foundation Fund of Tides Foundation, the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, Ronay and Richard Menschel, Mertz Gilmore Foundation, Ivana Mestrovic, Nancy Nasher, The New York Community Trust, Plant Specialists, Leonard and Louise Riggio, Shelley and Donald Rubin, the Shelley and Donald
Rubin Foundation, Silvercup Studios, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Smith, and Spacetime C. C. Socrates programs are also supported, in part, by public funds from Queens Borough President Melinda R. Katz; the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Socrates Sculpture Park is a public/private partnership with the City of New York, Department of Parks and Recreation.
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Board
Staff
Mark di Suvero, Chairman Stuart Match Suna, President Ivana Mestrovic, Secretary and Treasurer
John Hatfield, Executive Director Yousef Dawud, Resident Horticulturalist Pasqualina Azzarello, Director of Public Programs (through August 2016) Audrey Dimola, Director of Public Programs Katie Denny Horowitz Director of Development & Communications Jess Wilcox, Director of Exhibitions Nora Webb, Development & Communications Manager Chris Zirbes, Studio & Facilities Manager
Lisa K. Erf Maxine Frankel Richard Gluckman, FAIA Robert F. Goldrich Deidrea Miller Brooke Kamin Rapaport Ursula von Rydingsvard Joel Shapiro Thomas Smith Kimberly Strong Commissioner Mitchell Silver, Ex-Officio
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Partners The Academy for Careers in TV & Film Agostino Arts The Architectural League of New York Baccalaureate School for Global Education Batala NYC BIG Reuse Capoeira Nago Queens Circus Amok City Harvest City Parks Foundation City Vet Film Forum Frank Sinatra School of the Arts Free Style Arts Association Friends of Queensbridge Park Goodwill Industries Green Shores NYC GrowNYC Hellgate Farm Hip to Hip Theatre Company In-Sight Dance Company Jacob A. Riis Settlement House The Jazz Foundation of America LeAp Long Island City Community Boathouse Long Island City Cultural Alliance Long Island City High School Louis Armstrong House Museum Materials for the Arts The Metropolitan Opera The Minor Miracles Foundation The Noguchi Museum Norte Maar NYC Department of Transportation NYC Department of Parks & Recreation Partnerships for Parks
Plant Specialists Pooches Sport & Spa PS 993 Queens Action Council Queens Community Board 1 Recycle-A-Bicycle Rooftop Films Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture Spacetime C.C. Studio in a School SummerStage Taoist Tai Chi Society of the USA Transportation Alternatives Two Coves Advisory Council Urban Librarians Unite Urban Upbound Young Dancemakers Company Zone 126
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Special thanks
Photo credits
The City of New York, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Queens Borough President Melinda R. Katz, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, City Council Members Jimmy Van Bramer and Costa Constantinides, NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, Commissioner Mitchell Silver, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl.
Chris Baker: p. 36, 38 Peter Bellamy: p. 80 John Berens: p. 69 Steven L. Cohen: p. 8–9, 56, 65, 72, 73, 76, 81, 98, 102, 104, 105, 112, 115 bottom left, 121, 125 Bilyana Dimitrova: p. 20, 33 left, 50, 79, 90, 93 Robyn Donohue: p. 59 Nate Dorr: p. 11, 15, 16, 37, 60-61, 70–71, 86, 96, 104, 109 Jerome Haferd and K Brandt Knapp: p. 68 Tobias Hutzler: p. 2–3, 6 Mark Igbinadolor: Cover, p. 10, 108 Enrico Martignoni: p. 67 Richard Nonas: p. 78 Pierre Plattier: p. 5, 64, 116 top www.SkyviewSurveys.com: p. 18–19 Alyson Shotz: p. 99 David Tomono: p. 51, 54, 85, 100–101 All remaining photos by Socrates staff
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Author
William Lamson, Ken Landauer, Zaq Landsberg, Cal Lane, Adriana Lara, Fabbienne Lasserre, Heidi Lau, Tim Laun, Bertrand Lavier, Xavier Le Roy, Chang-Jin Lee, Jonggeon Lee, Linda Lee, Margaret Lee, Simon Lee, Gregg Lefevre, Wendy Lehman, Rainy Lehrman, Cary Leibowitz, Catarina Leitão, Stephanie Lempert, Shaun Leonardo, Christopher Lesnewski, Ellen Lesperance, Helen Lessick, Claire Lesteven, Nina Levy, Jason Clay Lewis, Sol LeWitt, Stephen Lichty, Ken Lightner, Pia Lindman, Pam Lins, Sylvan Lionni, Lucy R. Lippard, Donald Lipski, Robert Lobe, Noah Loesberg, Lone Wolf & Cub, Amanda Long, Ethan Long, Anibal Lopez, Dylan Lorenz, Elaine Lorenz, Marie Lorenz, Los Angeles Urban Rangers (Sara Daleiden, Emily Eliza Scott), Jason Bailer Losh, Leif Low-beer, Lia Lowenthal, Kate Loye, Peter Lundberg, Carole Frances Lung, Matthew Lusk, Vera Lutter, David Lynch, Mads Lynnerup, Jong Il Ma, Chris MacDonald, Anissa Mack, Sandy MacLeod, Alisdair MacRae, Erica Magrey, MaryKate Maher, Christopher Mahonski, Caroline Mak, Raimundas Malasauskas, Katie Mangiardi, George Mansfield, J. Manuel Mansylla, Christopher Manzione, Christian Marclay, Enzo Mari, Greg Martin, Susan Martin, Slawomir Marzec, Caitlin Masley, Rachel Mason , Deborah Masters, Fernando Mastrangelo, Ad Matasová, Anthony Heinz May, Edward Mayer, Kimberly Mayhorn, Howard McCalebb, Bradley McCallum, Laura McCallum, Ted McCann, Paul McCarthy, Matthew McCaslin, Patrick McDonough, Ted McGurn, Melanie McLain, Ian McLaughlin, Katherine McLeod, David McQueen, Patrick Meagher, Saul Melman, Michael Mercil, Ohad Meromi, George Meurdras, Frank J. Meuschke, Cassie Mey, MGM Grand, Vojtech Míča, Nick Micros, Jason Middlebrook, Steven Millar, Andrew Miller, Mitch Miller, Mary Miss, Jeffry Mitchell, R. Scott Mitchell, Richard Mock, Ledelle Moe, Zoran Mojsilov, Jennifer Monick, Vallessa Monk, Pentti Monkkonen, Julian Montague, Andrew Moore, Jesse Moore, Scott Moore, Irvin Morazan, Trevor Morgan, Owen Morrel, Robert Morris, John Morse, Kirsten Mosher, Shana Moulton, Ali Mroivili, Clive Murphy, Kellie Murphy, Wangechi Mutu, Julie Ann Nagle, Brigitte Nahon, Jiro Naito, Paul Narkiewicz, Wyatt Nash, Bruce Nauman, Florence Neal, Alissa Neglia, Kirsten Nelson, Manuel Neri, Ernesto Neto, Rivane Neuenschwander, Ray Neufeld, Itty Neuhaus, Margie Neuhaus, Christian Nguyen, Trong G. Nguyen, Nicoykatiushka (NYK), Jo Nigoghossian, Samuel Nigro, Isamu Noguchi, Richard Nonas, Navin Norling, Kurt Novak, Clive Nurphy, Brian O’Connell, Coke Wisdom O’Neal, Paul O’Neill, Jonathan Odom, Albert Oehlen, Page Ogden, Jeanine Oleson, Keith Oliver, Karyn Olivier, Kambui Olujimi, Yoko Ono, Catherine Opie, Lisa Oppenheim, Sarah Oppenheimer, Alena Ort, Eto Otitigbe, Mamiko Otsubo, Tom Otterness, Baker Overstreet, Clifford Owens, Rachel Owens, Nick Paparone, Lygia Pape, Paul Pappas, Nicolas Paris, Kelly Parr, Ester Partegas, Sara Pasti, Jar Jar Stinky & Patchez, Ian Pedigo, Carolina Pedraza, Marsha Pels, Beverly Pepper, Antonia A. Perez, Juniper Perlis, Jess Perlitz, Joel Perlman, Abby Pervil, Zena Verda Pesta, Michael Petersen, Jesse Peterson, Marina Peterson, Darrell Petit, Scott Pfaffman, Bundith Phunsombatlert, Sarah Pierce, Diane Pieri, Kenneth Pietrobono, Jody Pinto, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Rhiannon Platt, Pierre Plattier, Yevgeniya Plechkina, Don Porcaro, Don Porcella, Jack Pospisil, Virginia Poundstone, Freya Powell, Cedric Price, Aisling Prior, Eliza Proctor, Lina Puerta, Risa Puno, William Bryan Purcell, Jory Rabinovitz, Leah Raintree, Lisi Raskin, Mike Rathbun, Birgit Rathsmann, Leslie Reed, Tobias Rehberger, Jay Rehm, Robert Ressler, Grayson Revoir, Pedro Reyes, Marilyn Reynolds, Robin Rhode, Alberto Riaño, Michael Richards, Troy Richards, Duke Riley, Lukás Rittstein, Ryan Roa, Marc Robinson, Tim Roda, Halsey Rodman, Leyden Rodriguez-Casanova, Salvatore Romano, Augustine Romero, Sebastian Romo, Tom Rose, Michelle Rosenberg, Martha Rosler, Douglas Ross, Sheila Ross, Andrew Ross, Ed Rothfarb , Gail Rothschild, Jan Rothuizen, Heather Rowe, Brie Ruais, Jon Rubin, Nancy Rubins, Zuzana Rudavska, Kathleen Ruiz, Alison Saar, Shuli Sade, James Sadek, Georgia Sagri, Eszter Salamon, Harriet Salmon, Rafael Sanchez, John Sanders, Hanna Sandin, Christine Howard Sandoval, Tomas Saraceno, Michael Sarff, Peter Saville, Margo Sawyer, Sol Sax, Erik Saxon, Roger Sayre, David M. 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