June 16th will bring inHarlem back to Marcus Garvey Park, with the eight site-specific installations Maren Hassinger: Monuments. Take a walk with us, beginning on 124th Street at the Fifth Avenue entrance.
As described by inHarlem, “Maren Hassinger: Monuments will take the form of eight site-specific sculptures installed for approximately one year in Marcus Garvey Park, beginning in June 2018.
Working in the tradition of her earlier projects such as Wreath (1978), Hassinger will use branches to create forms that respond to aspects of the park’s landscape—an outcropping of rock, a rectangle near flower beds, an oval near the pool.
A Harlem resident who regards Marcus Garvey Park as her neighborhood green space, Hassinger will create the works with the assistance of volunteers from the Studio Museum’s Teen Leadership Council and Expanding the Walls program, so that Monuments will be a project made in Harlem and for Harlem.
Hallie Ringle said, “We’re reaching across the generations, and across both indoor and outdoor space, to present these projects by Maren Hassinger and Firelei Báez with the collaboration of our wonderful partner institutions. These new inHarlem exhibitions touch on themes of community, creative energy, respect for the earth, and histories both told and untold. Thanks to everyone who has joined with us, we are thrilled to be able to reach out to our neighbors in Harlem through these exceptional projects.”
Novella Ford, Associate Director of Public Programs and Exhibitions at the Schomburg Center, said “The Schomburg Center is excited to partner with the Studio Museum to bring Firelei Báez’s work to our patrons. The inHarlem program is quickly turning into an ongoing creative partnership, with artists finding inspiration for new creative works in our extensive archives. What began with Derrick Adams: Patrick Kelly, The Journey now continues with Firelei Báez’s project, allowing us to expand our work in advancing public knowledge of the global black experience in new and innovative ways.”
“Connie Lee, President of the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance, (and Public Art Initiative) said, “Our collaboration with the Studio Museum on the first inHarlem project with the installation of Simon Leigh’s extraordinary sculptures raised the experience of Marcus Garvey Park to a new level for everyone in our community. We are proud that such a distinguished artist as Maren Hassinger, with her great sensitivity to the natural world, is now creating works that will deepen our visitors’ connection to the park’s beloved landscape.”
“Parks is pleased to partner with The Studio Museum in Harlem once again, bringing public art to Marcus Garvey Park,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, FAICP. “We are honored to be a part of the Studio Museum’s golden anniversary celebration and we look forward to presenting this profoundly meaningful group of works by Maren Hassinger to the surrounding communities and visitors to the park.”
Join The Studio Museum in Harlem’s inHarlem project, in partnership with the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance and NYC Parks, for the unveiling of the eight art installations entitled Maren Hassinger:Monuments, on Saturday, June 16th (rain or shine) from 3:00-5:00pm ~ Free with Reservation, located in Marcus Garvey Park at Madison Avenue & 123rd Street entrance.
The installations blend so beautifully into each selected landscape within the park, appearing almost as a nest.
Save the Date for an inHarlem Guided Tour ~ Maren Hassinger: Monuments on July 14 from 1:00-2:00pm. Free with Reservation. The installation will be on view to June 10, 2019 in Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem.
Above and below, the installation just outside the Richard Rogers Amphitheater.
Check out interview with Maren Hassinger.
See more Maren Hassinger on The 8th Floor this June in the group exhibit, Sedimentations: Assemblage as Social Repair.
If you are in the Baltimore area, The Baltimore Museum of Art is currently showing Maren Hassinger: The Spirit of Things, on view to November 25, 2018.
While you’re in Marcus Garvey Park, visit the Public Art Initiative/Marcus Garvey Park Alliance current installation, Atlas of the Third Millennium by artist Jorge Luis Rodriguez, on view to October 1, 2018.
We cannot close this post without congratulating Studio Museum in Harlem as one of the winners of the 36th Annual Awards for Excellence in Design, announced by Mayor de Blasio on May 23, 2018.