Art in the Parks

Returning for its 14th consecutive year, the annual Photoville Festival features open-air photography exhibitions throughout all five boroughs of New York City. Collaborating with hundreds of artists and programming partners to curate and present over 80 outdoor exhibitions, Photoville Festival addresses a wide range of issues giving visitors a unique experience of thought-provoking and exceptional photography from across the globe.

Locations: Exhibitions in parks can be found in Barretto Point Park and Orchard Beach in the Bronx; Anchorage Plaza in Brooklyn; Bella Abzug Park, Corporal John A. Seravalli Playground, Jackie Robinson Park, and Chelsea Park in Manhattan; Travers Park in Queens; and Alice Austen House and South Beach Promenade in Staten Island.

This exhibition is presented by Photoville.

Morris Park Stars encourages the surrounding community to aim for the stars, translatable across all cultures, bringing a sense of joy, energy and exuberance. The installation enhances Loreto Playground as the center of the Morris Park neighborhood, where families spend time together, exercise, socialize and enjoy the outdoors. The installation consists of nine “stars” forming a 110-foot-long dynamic light fixture that changes colors and patterns to accompany culturally relevant community celebrations and special occasions.

This exhibition is presented by the Morris Park Business Improvement District.

This mural was created by Kristy McCarthy and features the great crested flycatcher and the yellow rumped warbler and black-eyed Susan, butterfly milkweed, purple blazing star, and New York ferns. As part of the Audubon Mural Project, a public-art initiative drawing attention to birds that are vulnerable to extinction from climate change, NYC Parks GreenThumb partnered with National Audubon Society,  Gitler &_____ Gallery, and local artists to design murals on sheds at GreenThumb community gardens across New York City. Through a collaborative process between the partners, artist, and community garden group, each mural was designed to feature climate-threatened birds that rely on green spaces like these urban gardens and native plants that birds depend on for food and shelter.

This mural was created by Kristy McCarthy and features the yellow warbler and great crested flycatcher and purple honeysuckle, lilacs, lilies, and orchids. As part of the Audubon Mural Project, a public-art initiative drawing attention to birds that are vulnerable to extinction from climate change, NYC Parks GreenThumb partnered with National Audubon Society,  Gitler &_____ Gallery, and local artists to design murals on sheds at GreenThumb community gardens across New York City. Through a collaborative process between the partners, artist, and community garden group, each mural was designed to feature climate-threatened birds that rely on green spaces like these urban gardens and native plants that birds depend on for food and shelter.

Artist Jaime Miranda-Bambarén exhumes the truncated roots of plundered trees in the Peruvian highlands. They are centennial arbors, planted in viceregal times, razed by our degrading "modernity." By transforming such remains into “seeds,” Miranda affirms an ecological claim and a resurrectional act: to transfigure those fields of sown death into almost breathing images of life.

Inspired by a community that cares for all its residents, this mural is dedicated to the people of Echo Park.

This exhibition is presented by Friends of Echo Park, with support from the City Parks Foundation and Partnerships for Parks.

This mural was created by Geobany Rodriguez and features the blue-winged warbler and purple coneflower. As part of the Audubon Mural Project, a public-art initiative drawing attention to birds that are vulnerable to extinction from climate change, NYC Parks GreenThumb partnered with National Audubon Society,  Gitler &_____ Gallery, and local artists to design murals on sheds at GreenThumb community gardens across New York City. Through a collaborative process between the partners, artist, and community garden group, each mural was designed to feature climate-threatened birds that rely on green spaces like these urban gardens and native plants that birds depend on for food and shelter.

Stretching across the entirety of Lenox Academy's basketball court, this mural captures the essence of courage, love, and valor through a dynamic portrayal of two iconic figures, Lover Boy and Lenox Academy Mascot. At the top stands Lover Boy, a beloved character known for his unwavering compassion and empathy is the King of Hearts. Opposite stands the Fox King, representing the indomitable spirit of Lenox Academy's mascot. The Fox King exudes confidence and determination, urging students to channel their inner strength and tenacity on the court. Despite their differences, the King of Hearts and the Fox King share a profound connection, symbolizing the unity of love and courage in the pursuit of victory. Our hope is as students step onto the royal court, they are enveloped by the mural's powerful message: to be brave, loving, and valiant in both sport and life.

This exhibition is presented by Project Backboard and the NYC Department of Education.

Table Talk honors the resilience, creativity, and unity of Brownsville. It is part of Pitkin Avenue BID’s efforts to uplift Zion Triangle as a welcoming, inclusive, and inspiring public space for all. The installation offers a space for neighbors to come together, share stories, exchange ideas, and find moments of rest and reflection. Translucent hexagons capture and refract light, casting a dynamic, colorful glow onto the surface below. Each hexagon has a handwritten message from community members responding to the prompt: “Brownsville is…”

This exhibition is presented by the NYC Department of Mental Health and Hygiene and the Pitkin Avenue BID.

This mural was created by Vanesa Alvarez Diaz and features the northern waterthrush and fox gloves, goldenrod, boneset, aster, milkweed, rudbeckia, echinacea, tulips, and petunias. As part of the Audubon Mural Project, a public-art initiative drawing attention to birds that are vulnerable to extinction from climate change, NYC Parks GreenThumb partnered with National Audubon Society,  Gitler &_____ Gallery, and local artists to design murals on sheds at GreenThumb community gardens across New York City. Through a collaborative process between the partners, artist, and community garden group, each mural was designed to feature climate-threatened birds that rely on green spaces like these urban gardens and native plants that birds depend on for food and shelter.

This mural was created by Yukiko Izumi and features the blackpoll warbler and black-eyed Susan, elderberry, New England aster, blue wild indigo and tall boneset. As part of the Audubon Mural Project, a public-art initiative drawing attention to birds that are vulnerable to extinction from climate change, NYC Parks GreenThumb partnered with National Audubon Society,  Gitler &_____ Gallery, and local artists to design murals on sheds at GreenThumb community gardens across New York City. Through a collaborative process between the partners, artist, and community garden group, each mural was designed to feature climate-threatened birds that rely on green spaces like these urban gardens and native plants that birds depend on for food and shelter.

A work from the artist’s Monuments to Motherhood series, the fifteen-foot-tall bronze sculpture honors caregiving in all its forms, recognizing those who nurture, sustain, and support their communities—often in ways that go unseen. Across the country, public statuary rarely reflects these essential contributions, and the role of care remains largely overlooked in civic spaces. This sculpture offers a powerful acknowledgment of those whose labor holds society together and stands as a testament to the generations that came before us.

This exhibition is presented by the Prospect Park Alliance.

This piece depicts the legend of the alligator in the NYC sewers. It deals with two interesting aspects of our world; our need for gods, myths, and legends much like any other civilization prior to ours, and our habit of creating invasive species by moving animals from their natural habitats to human environments.

This exhibition is presented by Mollbrinks Gallery.

Created by Brooklyn-based artist Tiffany Baker, this fence installation is part of a multi-site mural exhibition that turns the voices of Gowanus residents into public art and illustrates their experiences with flooding in the neighborhood. To create The Dear Neighbor Project, Tiffany connected with community leaders, local organizations, business owners, and residents to learn more about the impact of flooding in Gowanus. She then organized interviews with residents about their personal experiences with flooding, ranging from long-time residents to newer arrivals, and middle schoolers to older adults. Her art installations illustrate and directly quote from these residents’ stories — sharing their experiences, advice, and stories of community support during flood events.

This exhibition is presented by the Van Alen Institute.

Stretching across the entirety of Lenox Academy's basketball court, this mural captures the essence of courage, love, and valor through a dynamic portrayal of two iconic figures, Lover Boy and Lenox Academy Mascot. At the top stands Lover Boy, a beloved character known for his unwavering compassion and empathy is the King of Hearts. Opposite stands the Fox King, representing the indomitable spirit of Lenox Academy's mascot. The Fox King exudes confidence and determination, urging students to channel their inner strength and tenacity on the court. Despite their differences, the King of Hearts and the Fox King share a profound connection, symbolizing the unity of love and courage in the pursuit of victory. Our hope is as students step onto the royal court, they are enveloped by the mural's powerful message: to be brave, loving, and valiant in both sport and life.

This exhibition is presented by Project Backboard and the NYC Department of Education.

Designed and painted by the students, art teachers, and parents of PS 198 and PS 77, this mural features a colorful collection of flowers, leaves, and pollinators in a bright, bold whimsical style. This mural was made possible with the generous support of New York City Councilmember Julie Menin, Partnership for Parks, the Hellgate Hill Community Association, the PS 198 and PS 77 parent teacher associations, and the local community.

This exhibition features nine monumental, resin sculptures by French sculptor Michel Bassompierre, depicting peaceful animals who seem to be caught in the intimacy of their lives. Favouring animals with round shapes, Asian elephants, gorillas, bears or even horses, Bassompierre achieves a form that is both soft and precise, where light never clashes with shadow.

This exhibition is presented by Galeries Bartoux, Patrons of Park Avenue, and the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association.

This mural was created by Pelumi Adegawa and features the gray catbird and native sunflower, milkweed, lobelia, and wild strawberry. As part of the Audubon Mural Project, a public-art initiative drawing attention to birds that are vulnerable to extinction from climate change, NYC Parks GreenThumb partnered with National Audubon Society,  Gitler &_____ Gallery, and local artists to design murals on sheds at GreenThumb community gardens across New York City. Through a collaborative process between the partners, artist, and community garden group, each mural was designed to feature climate-threatened birds that rely on green spaces like these urban gardens and native plants that birds depend on for food and shelter.

Portals of Remembrance features three new monuments in augmented reality (AR) created by renowned contemporary artists. This exhibition honors and illuminates the stories of underrepresented figures within the HIV/AIDS movement through three virtual monuments created by celebrated artists, Derek Fordjour, Jacolby Satterwhite, Tourmaline, and Egyptt LaBeija, reimagining the New York City AIDS Memorial as a dynamic site of memory and empowerment.

Derek Fordjour’s Cellular Chaser draws inspiration from his acclaimed Black jockey series, using the imagery of the jockey and horse to explore themes of hypervisibility, death, disappearance, and stalled progress. Expanding on the themes from Tourmaline’s short film Atlantic is a Sea of Bones and Egyptt LaBeija’s enduring legacy, their work creates an experience that is both a tribute and a testament to personal and collective histories of Black queer and trans resilience. Jacolby Satterwhite’s You Make Me Feel Mighty Real is a tribute to Sylvester, the trailblazer who revolutionized mainstream music with unapologetic, Black, queer humanity and jubilance.

This exhibition is presented by the NYC AIDS Memorial and Kinfolk.

Originally created for an exhibition at Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland, the ten-foot-tall sculpture takes the shape of a giant pink foot and lower leg topped with a working sprinkler. The creature-like work is playfully dotted with tongues sticking out from small lipsticked mouths, and each toenail is painted haphazardly with bright red nail polish. Foot Fountain (pink) is activated by pedals installed nearby. It irreverently reimagines traditional fountains, which are often placed in the center of squares or gardens with water that is self-contained. Instead, Foot Fountain (pink) interacts more intimately with its surroundings, using water to nourish both the place and the people around it.

This exhibition is presented by The High Line.

This exhibition is presented by HESSE FLATOW and the Broadway Mall Association.

This exhibition is presented by West Harlem Art Fund and New York Artists Equity Association.

The exhibition features eight bronzes recently cast from wood sculptures Mosley made between 1996 and 2021. The bronze sculptures range from human scale to the monumental Gate III, while varied patinas and textures preserve the original surfaces as well as the tactile presence of his hand and chisel. Mosley draws on influences as varied as modernist sculpture, his collection of Western African masks, and the genre of jazz, to realize a deeply humanist body of sculptures through distillation, invention, and improvisation.

This exhibition is presented by Public Art Fund.

Acacia Bipod stands as a monument honoring the Indigenous peoples of South Africa. The double helix, ladder, and Acacia tree motifs merge here to reflect growth, ancestry, and interconnectedness.

This exhibition is a Lawrence Knight Project presented by New York Artists Equity Association with support from the New York State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, and the West Harlem Art Fund.

This public exhibition is Allen’s largest outdoor installation to date and the newest in a series of large-scale outdoor installations staged by Allen in the United States, Mexico and Belgium. Unique bronze and onyx sculptures, including examples reaching over 10 feet tall and realized especially for the exhibition, will be on view at eight sites that span nearly 20 blocks. Park Avenue provides a unique opportunity for New Yorkers to engage with the artist’s material explorations of consciousness, free will, and the nature of time, unexpectedly tranquil amongst the energetic velocity of the city. Juxtaposing the artist’s primordial formations against the urban landscape, the exhibition encourages new perspectives on the elemental nature of Allen’s fluid, biomorphic sculptural language.

This exhibition is presented by Kasmin and the Fund for Park Avenue.

Lingo Bingo offers an opportunity to bridge language and cultural barriers, fostering understanding in a playful setting. It replaces bingo numbers with words and phrases in multiple languages, inviting participants to discover shared values. This installation features 13 languages, including five frequently used in Inwood: Spanish, Taíno, Lenape, Hebrew, and English.

This exhibition is presented by Korea Art Forum.

This exhibition consists of four vinyl banners, which document the artist’s participatory project Limited, Limited Edition. The artist guided participants through stenciling their chosen translations onto secondhand t-shirts. Limited, Limited Edition is an ongoing gifting project started in 2005 as a way for the artist to engage with people to create singular cross-cultural experiences in an imaginative space transcending any one-dimensional take on Japanese culture.

This exhibition is presented by Korea Art Forum.

Happy to See You, a vibrant public art installation by local artist Marya Triandafellos, is designed to inspire joy and positivity. The installation features colorful, minimalist images displayed on a wrought iron fence on the Greenwich Street side of Washington Market Park. Happy to See You offers a playful visual engagement to brighten the area. With saturated colors and abstracted shapes like clouds, fish, and flowers, the installation evokes universal themes of connection, positivity, and community.

This exhibition is presented by the Friends of Washington Market Park.

This exhibition is presented by The Woodhaven Mural Project.

This exhibition is presented by Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, Friends of the Beach 59th Street Playground Association, Sol de Vida, Work of Art Holdings, and 7G Group.

 This 6 foot tall sculpture symbolizes the diversity of people from different nationalities and cultures who have chosen to live together in Queens and share their ideas, dreams, history, food and customs. The font is the same one used for the I Love New York campaign, American Typewriter, and the colors are based on the Queens flag.

This mural features inspirational words and phrases painted on several perimeter walls inside the park. The positive message, bright colors, and dynamic designs serve to create a healthy and active environment.

This exhibition is presented Thrive Collective, Projectivity Group, NYC Department of Youth & Community Development, and District 49/Councilwoman Kamillah M. Hanks.