Public Art Fund

📢 Steel-ing the spotlight! Yesterday, alongside Governor Kathy Hochul (New York State Executive Chamber) and our partners JFK Millennium Partners and The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, we celebrated a significant milestone in the construction of JFK Terminal 6 where the final beam of structural steel was lifted into place! 🏗️ This marks a key step in transforming JFK into a world-class global gateway. The state-of-the-art terminal will feature expansive public spaces, cutting-edge technology, and inspiring art designed to enhance the traveler experience. ✈️ 🎨 We’re proud to lead the collaboration with 18 renowned artists, including Candida Alvarez, Sky Hopinka, Eddie Martinez, Kambui Olujimi, and GaHee Park, who joined the governor yesterday to commemorate this important milestone. Dynamic artworks—sculptures, suspended installations, wall works, and glass mosaic floor medallions—will capture the vibrant spirit of New York when the terminal opens in 2026. 🛬 ✨🖼️ Read the full press release here: https://bit.ly/4dxY0ro

🚏🖼️ Adrienne Elise Tarver’s "She who sits" invites us to reimagine the act of sitting as a profound expression of agency, rest, and power within Black history and culture. On view JCDecaux bus shelters in NYC, Chicago, and Boston, this exhibition turns everyday spaces into sites of reflection and quiet defiance. Featuring striking portraits of Black women, Tarver’s work explores stillness as a radical act, elevating moments of pause into symbols of resilience and representation. Drawing from personal and media archives, Tarver seamlessly weaves together themes of rest and self-affirmation, transforming the public realm into a canvas for empowerment. Learn more: bit.ly/3YEnRdo ✨ Spot the exhibition in your city through November 24th, and snap a photo when you encounter these thought-provoking works on your commute! Tag us and let us know how this powerful exhibition resonates with you. #AdrienneEliseTarver #SheWhoSits “Between here or there,” 2024 📷: Mel Taing, courtesy #PublicArtFundNY Artworks presented by #PublicArtFund as a part of “Adrienne Elise Tarver: She who sits,” an exhibition on 300 JCDecaux bus shelters in New York, Chicago, and Boston, Aug 14, 2024 - Nov 24, 2024.

Curious about Huma Bhabha's inspirations, from ancient mythologies to dystopian sci-fi? 🚨 🗓️ Join us tomorrow, Monday, September 30th, at 6:30 pm at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art for an engaging talk where Bhabha will discuss her Public Art Fund installation, "Before The End," currently on view at Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation’s Pier 3 Greenway Terrace. In conversation with Public Art Fund's Nicholas Baume, she’ll share insights into her influences and the creative process behind her four enigmatic sculptures. Seating is limited and first-come, first-served. Reserve your FREE spot here: bit.ly/PAFHumaBhabhaTalk "#HumaBhabha : Before The End" Courtesy of the artist; David Zwirner Photo: 📷: Nicholas Knight, courtesy of #PublicArtFundNY Presented by #PublicArtFund at #BrooklynBridgePark, New York City, Apr 30, 2024 - Mar 9, 2025.

🌏💬 Each language is a thread in the rich tapestry of our shared humanity! #PAFpicoftheweek 📷 by visitor Andy soaking in the beauty of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's "Speaking Willow," on permanent view at Planet Word. 🌳✨ As visitors pass beneath its graceful branches, they activate bell-shaped speakers that echo voices from around the world, representing over 99% of the globe's spoken languages. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's interactive sculpture celebrates our linguistic diversity, weaving together distinct rhythms and intonations that reflect the unique cultures they embody. Each sound is a reminder of our interconnectedness and the importance of preserving these voices. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3s9QYHR

Explore the creative journey behind Adrienne Elise Tarver's “She who sits” and see how her artistic vision unfolds. This captivating series, featured on 300 JCDecaux North America, Inc. bus shelters 🚏 🚌 across NYC, Chicago, and Boston, explores the fictional world of Vera Otis—a character with a decade-long history in Tarver's work. Tarver reveals, "In each painting, it was crucial to consider 'where' she sits," using Vera’s home as a symbol of agency and stability. Building on her earlier "Eavesdropping" series and drawing inspiration from historical figures like Hattie McDaniel, Tarver incorporates yellow chairs🪑🟡, a recurring motif from her "Estate Sale of Ms. Vera Otis" series, to illustrate Vera’s evolving narrative through vibrant paintings and sketches. In “She who sits,” Tarver highlights the Black matriarchal figure, blending new imagery with themes of radical rest and self-affirmation. This exhibition challenges viewers to reimagine sitting as more than a mundane act, transforming it into a powerful statement of presence and selfhood that resonates deeply in their daily lives. On view through November 24th. Learn more: bit.ly/3YEnRdo #AdrienneEliseTarver #SheWhosits #PublicArtFundNY

🚉🎨 NYC's busiest hub—America's premier rail station connecting people and public art! Join us on Friday, November 15th, at 2 pm, for a virtual talk led by the New York Transit Museum featuring Public Art Fund's Senior Curator Melanie Kress, Cheryl Hageman from MTA Arts design, and Sharon Tepper from Art at Amtrak. They’ll explore their respective public art installations at Penn Station and Moynihan Train Hall including Public Art Fund's installations that capture New York’s history, energy, and spirit. Be part of this insightful conversation about how art transforms civic spaces. Register here: https://lnkd.in/eKvdr_2Y Stan Douglas, "22 April 1924" and "7 August 1934," from "Penn Station’s Half Century," 2020 Ceramic ink on glass. One of nine photographic panels from "Penn Station’s Half Century" Commissioned by Empire State Development in partnership with #PublicArtFund for Moynihan Train Hall ©Stan Douglas. Courtesy of the artist, Victoria Miro and David Zwirner. 📷: Nicholas Knight, courtesy Empire State Development and #PublicArtFundNY

Get ready for an evening with Huma Bhabha on Monday, September 30th, at 6:30pm at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, as she takes center stage to discuss her monumental public art installation, "Before The End," on view at Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation. In conversation with Public Art Fund's Nicholas Baume, Bhabha will explore her unique sculptural works that blend science fiction, horror, and myth. 🌌 Standing eight feet tall and echoing ancient effigies, these four large-scale sculptures invite us to ponder our connection to history and the earth itself. Don’t miss this chance to hear directly from the artist herself as she unpacks the inspirations behind her work! Seating is limited and first-come, first-served. Reserve your FREE spot here: bit.ly/PAFHumaBhabhaTalk 🎥: SandenWolff

Submerge yourself in "Water Works," a collaboration between Public Art Fund and The Film-Makers 'Cooperative, happening this Friday, September 27th, at NYC Landmark Hamilton Fish Pool as part of our "No Swimsuit Required" project. 🌊💧🎥 In the drained Olympic-sized pool, multiple digital and film projections will explore bodies of water—from vast oceans and serene rivers to turbulent seas stirred by ships and even the ordinary drip from a leaky faucet. As you wander the space and lounge on a sunbed, enjoy the live performance by Maria Chavez, performing an auditory accompaniment with the space while films by Mary Helena Clark and over a dozen other artists communicate to us in a multitude of aquatic forms. Seating is limited and first-come, first-served. Reserve your ✨FREE✨ spot here: bit.ly/noswimsuitrequired 🎶 Schedule 6 pm: Sound Installation Opens 🎧 7:30 pm: Film Screenings Sound Installation 🎥 (approx. 80 min) 9 pm: DJ Set 🎛️🎶 📷 courtesy of #PublicArtFundNY #PublicArtFund

In honor of the late Louise Nevelson’s birthday, we look back at at her Public Art Fund installation “Frozen Laces I”, which graced @centralparknyc’s Doris C. Freeman Plaza in 1981 with 32,000 pieces of welded steel, painted black and combined to create a 32’ x 12’ x 14’ geometric form. 🌟 A trailblazer in site-specific and installation art, Nevelson made history by representing the United States at the Venice Biennale in 1962. Today, her influence spans the globe, with her works housed in over ninety public collections worldwide. Learn more: bit.ly/FrozenLaces 📷 Donna Svennevick #LouiseNevelson #PublicArtFund #PublicArtFundNY

Cleaning out our camera roll as we bid summer farewell ☀️🎞️End of summer #photodump🎞️☀️ From Cannupa Hanska’s powerful "Attrition" at City Hall Park to Adrienne Elise Tarver’s "She sho sits" gracing 300 bus shelters in NYC, Chicago, and Boston, and Edra Soto’s stunning "Graft" at Central Park Conservancy’s Doris C. Freedman Paza—we hope you had a chance to spend the long days amongst our summer public art exhibition lineup! 🔥 #RerouteForArt series made weekends even better with artistic detours. 🛳️🖼️ We kicked things off with Friendship Ambassador Angie Raman curating her ultimate #RerouteForArt itinerary, taking us from the New York Transit Museum to Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation. We got hands-on at City Hall Park with Cannupa Hanska’s Bison Bead Workshop 🦬, crafting clay beads that symbolize the survival of bison across North America. We explored Broadway Gallery for Sky Hopinka's "Unforgiven Souls Sing Hymns," engaged with indigenous histories with National Museum of the American Indian's exhibition "Infinity of Nations" and "Native New York," and hit the Rockaway Beach boardwalk for a hands-on screenprinting workshop with Mobile Print Power 🎨, unpacking our thoughts through drawings and words. We also ventured to DUMBO for thought-provoking exhibitions at A.I.R. Gallery (Artists-In-Residence Gallery) featuring Susan Stainman, Funto Omojola, and Mimi Biyao Bai before stopping by Newark Airport for art-filled summer travels with our #PublicArtFund artists Layqa Nuna Yawar and Karyn Olivier in Newark Airport terminal A. Stay tuned as we kick off fall with more public art, adventures, and inspiration. 🍂 Photos: 📷: Nicholas Knight & Public Art Fund staff Hussain K.