Socrates Sculpture Park

Over the past few weeks, we’ve shared the five pillars guiding Socrates Sculpture Park’s 40th anniversary year—five commitments shaping how the Park shows up today and how we will move into the future. Together, these pillars reflect an ongoing investment in #artists, #ecology, #memory, and #public access—work that happens through #care, #experimentation, and long-term #stewardship. As we enter our fifth decade, this moment is both a reflection and a renewal. 🎥 Watch the full Socrates at 40 compilation video 🌱 Consider making an end-of-year gift to help sustain this work and support the next 40 years of Socrates. We'll see you in 2026. Link to donate in bio.

Thank you to our 2026 Gala Benefit Committee for helping shape an evening in support of artists, public space, and the future of Socrates Sculpture Park. On June 4, we will gather at Spacetime CC to celebrate the Park’s 40th Anniversary Gala, honoring @chakaiabooker , @materialsforthearts , and the Sidney E. Frank Foundation, one of the Park’s earliest supporters, whose philanthropy has helped advance opportunities in art, theater, poetry, music, education, environmental conservation, and medical research and care. Rooted in the spirit of Begin Again, this milestone evening will celebrate the values that have guided Socrates for four decades: creative risk-taking, community partnership, and ecological care. We hope you will join us for sunset, dinner, cocktails, and dancing in support of Socrates Sculpture Park and our community of artists, advocates, friends and neighbors. More information at the link in our bio.

Introducing #Artists Choose Artists: The Socrates Annual Fellowship Anniversary. In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Socrates Fellowship and the Park's 40th anniversary, Socrates invited its alumni network to nominate artists for whom the Fellowship would be a momentous opportunity, marking the program's first-ever nomination-based selection process. Ten artists were selected for the artistic merit of their work and their projects' potential to respond to the social, ecological, and historical dimensions of the Park. Over the next two years, each Fellow will receive a $10,000 production grant, a $4,000 artist honorarium, access to onsite fabrication support and technical services, and an additional fund for individualized needs. This is a comprehensive investment allowing artists to experiment boldly and bring visionary new works to life across a two-year cycle. The 2026–2028 Artist Fellows include: 🟠 Cynthia Alberto @cynthiaalbertostudio 🟠 Francheska Alcántara @francheskaalcantarastudio 🟠 Josué Guarionex @josueguarionex_art 🟠 Xayvier Haughton @xayvierhaughton 🟠 Vaishnavi Ilankamban 🟠 Manami Ishimura @manami.ishimura 🟠 Jeremy John Kaplan @jeremyjohnkaplan 🟠 Nicole Mouriño @nxsmourino 🟠 Supermrin @supermrin 🟠 Andrew Cornell Robinson @acrstudio On view June 2026 – April 2028 Opening: June 21, 2026 | 5–8:30pm Over the coming days, we'll share more about each Fellow and their project. Link in bio for full details.

#FridayMood when BRIDGE is DJing your party. Join us in three weeks for ours. Thursday, June 4, Socrates Sculpture Park 40th Anniversary Gala featuring sounds provided by @iambridgeet . Dinner, dancing, cocktails, community, and the NYC skyline. See you there. Link to tickets in bio.

An unforgettable night on the waterfront is taking shape. On Thursday, June 4, we celebrate our 40th anniversary with an evening of dinner, dancing, cocktails, and community along the East River. We’re thrilled to share that Brooklyn-based DJ, cultural curator, and storyteller BRIDGE (@iambridgeet )will soundtrack the evening with an uplifting mix of disco, house, and dance classics, carrying guests from sunset cocktails into dancing beneath the NYC skyline. We are also honored to welcome acclaimed poet, writer, organizer, and educator Mahogany L. Browne ( @mobrowne ), who will offer a special invocation commemorating the artists, neighbors, supporters, and visionaries whose belief in Socrates helped transform an abandoned waterfront landfill into one of New York City’s most vital spaces for contemporary art and public life. Together, we will honor Chakaia Booker, Materials for the Arts, and the Sidney E. Frank Foundation, while celebrating the artists and communities that continue to shape the Park’s future. Expect joyful gathering, beautiful waterfront views, and the unmistakable energy that only Socrates can create. Join us Thursday, June 4 for the 2026 Socrates Gala. Link to purchase tickets in bio. #SocratesSculpturePark #Socrates40 #NYCArt #PublicArt #queens

LAST CHANCE TO APPLY TO PERFORM OR VEND!!! APPLICATION CLOSES SUNDAY 5/17 - IF YOU ALREADY APPLIED NO NEED TO RE-APPLY!! SAVE THE DATE, ASTORIA! 🌈 The 4th Annual Astoria Pride Picnic in the Park is back — and this year we’re louder, prouder, and bigger than ever! 💖✨ Join us on Saturday, June 20th for a day filled with community, love, entertainment, local vendors, amazing performances, and Pride celebration in the heart of Astoria. This year’s theme: “Still Queer, Still Here!!” 🏳️‍🌈 We’re currently looking for: 🎤 Artists & Entertainment 🛍️ Vendors 🤝 Volunteers 🌟 Sponsors Want to be part of one of Astoria’s most colorful and community-driven Pride events? This is your chance to connect, celebrate, and show your support for LGBTQIA+ visibility and joy in Queens. Tag your crew, save the date, and get involved! 🌈✨ 📍 Astoria Pride - Picnic in the Park (Socrates Sculpture Park) 📅 Saturday, June 20th 📩 [email protected] 👉 More info + applications: Link in bio @astoriahaspride

Artist @chakaiabooker and Socrates Executive Director Shaun Leonardo (@elcleonardo ) pausing to take in @chakaiabooker ’s works at Socrates Sculpture Park. Homecoming: Chakaia Booker Serendipity (1998), Gridlock (2008), and LIKE (2009) On View through April 2027 Image: @jonathangardenhire , Socrates Deputy Director

On May 11, @ChakaiaBooker returns to Socrates. Bringing together past and present and the ongoing evolution of a practice rooted in material transformation, public space, and creative risk, we are honored to welcome back alumna artist Chakaia Booker with Homecoming, an exhibition of three monumental works: Serendipity (1998), Gridlock (2008), and LIKE (2009). Chakaia Booker first experimented with modularity and scale at Socrates in 1994 and 1997, and remained connected to the Park as an artist educator throughout the 2000s. Her return is a full-circle moment, inviting reflection on the artists who helped shape Socrates and on the lineage of Black women artists who have expanded the canon of public art. Come see Chakaia Booker’s Homecoming at Socrates beginning May 11. Images: Works in Progress, 2026 and 1997

THIS COMING WEEK — Friday, May 8 at 7:30 PM & Saturday, May 9 at 5 PM Join me at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Distance/Decay by Pioneers Go East Collective In collaboration with Anabella Lenzu (choreographer/performance artist) and Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte (direction/film) Inspired by the writings and archival records of Alejandra Pizarnik—a Latina feminist poet whose work explores displacement, artistic agency, and belonging Tickets: /crossroads-part-1/ @pioneersgoeast @nickyparaiso @philiptrevino @anabellalenzu @tlcamera

Anabella Lenzu talking about the creative process of Distance Decay and her exhibition of drawing/ collages at the lobby of La Mama. THIS COMING WEEK — Friday, May 8 at 7:30 PM & Saturday, May 9 at 5 PM Join me at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club Distance/Decay by Pioneers Go East Collective In collaboration with Anabella Lenzu (choreographer/performance artist) and Gian Marco Riccardo Lo Forte (direction/film) Inspired by the writings and archival records of Alejandra Pizarnik—a Latina feminist poet whose work explores displacement, artistic agency, and belonging Tickets: /crossroads-part-1/

Build your own green space with us. 🌿 On Saturday, May 16, from 11 AM–1 PM, join Field Guide at Socrates and The @noguchimuseum for Green Spaces: Plant Terrarium with Sol Aramendi. Led in collaboration with a Noguchi Museum educator, this hands-on workshop invites participants to explore the Park and create a terrarium using soil, air plants, and succulents while considering how Isamu Noguchi brought together materials in his abstract sculptures to express the forces of nature. This program is free with RSVP. Registration is limited to 25 participants. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. All participants will also receive a free pass to visit The Noguchi Museum after the program. RSVP at the link in our bio.

Meet 2026 Artist Fellow Manami Ishimura (@manami.ishimura ) ✨ Born in Tokyo, Japan, visual artist and educator Manami Ishimura has exhibited nationally and internationally — from the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum to the Fresh Winds Art Biennale in Iceland. Her practice celebrates the universality of art across cultures. She holds a BFA in Sculpture from Tama Art University, Japan, and an MFA from Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, and is currently Assistant Professor of Art at Kenyon College. For the Fellowship Anniversary, Manami presents Weaving the Unseen — a project inspired by komomaki (菰巻き), a Japanese horticultural technique of wrapping trees with woven straw mats to protect them from insects and winter weather. Through community workshops, participants will weave straw sheets and wrap structures made from discarded industrial waste, transforming them into a communal monument of renewal. On view Fall 2027 at Socrates Sculpture Park. #SocratesAnnualFellowship #ArtistsChooseArtists