{"id":23047,"date":"2017-10-17T13:30:01","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T13:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artzealous.com\/?p=23047"},"modified":"2017-10-18T13:16:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-18T13:16:13","slug":"new-york-city-celebrates-50-years-of-art-in-the-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/new-york-city-celebrates-50-years-of-art-in-the-parks\/","title":{"rendered":"New York City Celebrates 50 Years of Art in the Parks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Public art has myriad benefits for its community. It beautifies a neighborhood, encourages engagement, instills a feeling of pride in local residents and inspires discussion. The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation<\/a> recognized these positive effects when it created its \u201cArt in the Parks\u201d public art program fifty years ago. Since then, the program has showcased more than 2,000 works of art. Now it\u2019s recognizing this milestone fiftieth anniversary with a celebration.<\/p>\n

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On October 21, the NYC Parks Department will present \u201cIt\u2019s Happening!,\u201d a free day of public art and arts activities in Central Park. Taking place in East Pinetum field, the event will provide art lovers and families with more than 100 artworks, hands-on workshops and performances between 11am-3pm. \u00a0The workshops, a\u00a0collaboration with arts organizations and artists, will include paper marbling; creating sketchbooks, wind chimes and mosaics;\u00a0dancing with Limon Dance Company\/ Bryant Park Corp and more.<\/p>\n

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Sculpture in Environment, Bryant Park, 1967 \/\/ photo courtesy of NYC Parks Photo Archive <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n

In 1967, the City decided to infuse art into the daily lives of its people \u2013\u00a0citizens, tourists and commuters alike. The first project was an exhibition of Tony Smith\u2019s minimalist sculptures (\u201cpresences\u201d) in Bryant Park. This, as well as the hundreds or projects that came after it, made contemporary art accessible to everyone \u2013\u00a0regardless of financial standings or education level \u2013 and gave a new forum for\u00a0emerging artists to reach new audiences. Public spaces in New York City have since become reliable platforms for expression, with installations that have taken over parks, playgrounds and street corners in all five boroughs. The program\u2019s\u00a0permanent art collection<\/a>\u00a0is made up of more than 800 monuments and includes the work of well-known artists such as Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Louise Nevelson.<\/p>\n

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Temporary installations have brought a range of diverse styles, materials and ideals to the forefront of many peoples\u2019 lives. These works often changed the everyday experiences and perspectives of passersby: Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “The Gates” installation\u00a0flooded Central Park with saffron; Francis Hines wrapped the Washington Square Park\u2019s arch in bandages; and Victor Matthews\u2019s “Beyond Metamorphosis\u201d brought 3,000 umbrellas, hand-painted with monarch butterflies, to the grounds of Battery Park. \u00a0To find a list and map of current exhibits throughout the City, visit:\u00a0nycgovparks.org\/art<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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artwork by Tom Friedman, 2016 <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/dt>\n
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Celebrate public art in New York City on October 21 by entering Central Park at East 84th Street entrance at the East Drive, behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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featured artwork above \/\/ OY\/YO by Deborah Kass<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public art has myriad benefits for its community. It beautifies a neighborhood, encourages engagement<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":23051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,21],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23047"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artzealous.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}