Now that Pamela Rosenkranz ‘Old Tree‘ is firmly planted on the High Line Plinth for the season, The High Line is gearing-up with proposals for 2026 and 2027. So ~ toot your horn and help The High Line select its shortlist.
About the Plinth
The High Line Plinth is a landmark destination for public art, designed as the focal point of the Spur, the newest section of the High Line. Unlike most sections of the park, the Spur is conceived as a natural gathering space, where the Plinth serves as the anchor and center of this piazza, creating a dialogue with the towering skyscrapers and arresting vistas of the immediate surroundings. The Plinth is located on the High Line at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, and is visible from the street.
About the Proposal Process
Forty-nine artists and collectives from 31 countries and all corners of the United States submitted the proposals above to be considered for the fifth and sixth Plinth commissions, which will be installed in 2026 and 2027.
These artists were nominated by an international advisory committee of artists, curators, and arts professionals convened by High Line Art. In fall 2023, High Line Art will select a shortlist of artists to move to the next stage of the proposal process. These artists will be invited to present maquettes of their proposals in a public exhibition in early 2024.
Public feedback is integral to the proposal process: the comments we receive June 5 through August 25, 2023 will be shared with High Line Art’s curatorial team and will help inform their selection of the shortlist of artists.
Previous Plinth Commissions and Proposals
The first two High Line Plinth commissions were initiated in 2016 by an international advisory committee of artists, curators, and art world professionals who each recommended artists to invite to submit a proposal. After collecting and reviewing more than 50 proposals, the High Line selected a shortlist of 12 artists, who exhibited maquettes of their proposals on the High Line in 2017. Simone Leigh’s Brick House and Sam Durant’s Untitled (drone) were then chosen from that group, opening to the public in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
In 2020, a call for submissions from a second cycle of committee-nominated artists took place, with 80 proposals shared with the public online for feedback. A shortlist of 12 artists were then selected to exhibit maquettes of their proposals in January 2021. Pamela Rosenkranz’s Old Treewas selected as the third High Line Plinth commission from this round, and is currently on view on the Plinth through Fall 2024. The fourth commission, also selected from this second cycle, will be announced later in 2023.
Nominating Advisory Committee
The fifth and sixth Plinth commission proposals’ international advisory committee includes: Rashida Bumbray, Independent Curator and Artist; Cosmin Costinas, Artistic Director, 2024 Biennale of Sydney, Australia; Till Fellrath and Sam Bardaouil, Co-Directors, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany; Alvin Li, Adjunct Curator, Greater China, Tate; Contributing Editor, frieze, Shanghai, China; Marie Hélène Pereira, Senior Curator, Performative Practices, Haus de Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany, Curatorial Advisor, RAW Material Company, Dakar, Senegal; Nora Razian, Head of Exhibitions at the Jameel Arts Centre, Dubai, UAE; Júlia Rebouças, Independent Curator, São Paulo, Brazil; Gaëtane Verna, Executive Director, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, Curator, Canadian Pavilion, 60th Venice Biennale, 2024; Jo Widoff, Curator of International Art, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Maria Wills Londoño, Indendepent Curator, Bogotá, Colombia.
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. Additional support is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. High Line Art is supported, in part, with public funds from 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, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
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 Belfer, Fairfax Dorn, Kerianne Flynn, Hermine Riegerl Heller and David B. Heller, J. Tomilson and Janine Hill, The Holly Peterson Foundation, Annie Hubbard, Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, Amanda and Don Mullen, Douglas Oliver and Sherry Brous, Mario Palumbo and Stefan Gargiulo, Susan and Stephen Scherr, Susan and David Viniar, Olivia Walton, and Vivian and James Zelter.