Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

UNIQLO to Fund Work by Local Artists in 20 City Parks With $200K Grant

By Alexandra Leon | September 22, 2016 3:45pm
 UNIQLO is donating $200,000 to fund public art at city parks over the next two years. Ten local artists will be chosen to create pieces for 10 parks across the city in the first year. The pieces will go up in spring of 2017.
UNIQLO is donating $200,000 to fund public art at city parks over the next two years. Ten local artists will be chosen to create pieces for 10 parks across the city in the first year. The pieces will go up in spring of 2017.
View Full Caption
NYC Department of Parks and Recreation

FORT GREENE — The clothing brand UNIQLO is shelling out $200,000 to fund public art in city parks over the next two years.

UNIQLO executives and the city’s Parks Department announced the grant — which gives 20 local artists $10,000 each to create original works of art for parks across the city — Thursday morning at Fort Greene Park.

The retailer will award the grants to 10 artists in the first year to create pieces that will sit in Joyce Kilmer and Virginia parks in The Bronx, Herbert Von King and Fort Greene parks in Brooklyn, Thomas Jefferson and Seward parks in Manhattan, Flushing Meadows-Corona and Rufus King parks in Queens, and Tappen and Faber parks in Staten Island.

At Fort Greene Park, the new piece will be placed at the corner Myrtle Avenue and Washington Park, replacing Juanli Carrion’s Outer Seed Shadow garden, which features an assortment of plants that represent the various nationalities of residents across the borough.

"What I really hope that this begins is a revolution in corporate responsibility and giving back to our neighborhoods in a meaningful way," City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo said at the announcement Thursday. "It feels so good when you’re wearing clothing and you're supporting a company that is also investing in your neighborhoods and investing in our communities."

Through November, artists can submit their proposals, which will be judged by a committee of art professionals from each borough, as well as the Parks Department and UNIQLO representatives.

The committee will favor proposals that speak to a specific park and the surrounding community.

The first round of artists will be announced in January, and their artwork will go on display in the spring. The second round of proposals will be collected next fall, and go on display in 2018. 

The deadline for submissions is Nov. 13. For more information, click here.