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Montana Simone, Concept sketch of Weir (Never Still), Steel, 8 x 15 x 5 feet.
The Art Students League of New York and The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation are proud to present Works in Public 2025, a year-long outdoor public art exhibition at Riverside Park in Manhattan. The exhibition features four new site-specific sculptures by League artists: Jason McCormack and Montana Simone in Riverside Park South at 61st Street, and Kenneth Doherty and Aseel Sawalha in Riverside Park North at 145th Street.
About the Artists & Art
Project Description:
McCormack’s rotating sculpture celebrates individuality and shared humanity. Composed of three painted portraits in primary colors, the work transforms with each turn, creating endlessly shifting faces that invite reflection on the paradox of difference and unity.
Bio:
Jason McCormack (J Made That) is a draftsman and sculptor who explores the depths of our humanity in search of beauty, harmony, and truth. Jason’s work reflects his love of the human figure as well as his commitment to social justice. Jason was born and raised in New York City where he currently lives and works.
Website: jmadethat.com
Instagram: @j_madethat
Project Description:
Referencing ancient fishing structures, Simone’s steel installation channels the movement and sound of the Hudson River (Maheacantuck). The work transforms environmental forces into new frequencies of experience, honoring Indigenous histories while engaging present-day viewers.
Bio:
Montana Simone (French-American, b. San Francisco, CA) lives and works in New York.
She creates sculptures/installations/interventions including research, organizing, music and agriculture.
Website: montanasimone.com
Instagram: @montanasimone
Project Description:
Installed alongside the Hudson at 145th Street, Doherty’s sculpture dramatizes climate change threats to New York’s floodplain. Concrete figures on a Cor-Ten steel base evoke refugees struggling against rising tides, underscoring urgent climate realities.
Instagram: @kdny.art
Project Description:
Blending anthropology and art, Sawalha’s towering mixed-media work critiques overconsumption and celebrates books as vessels of memory and dialogue. Visitors are invited to contemplate the future of knowledge and culture amid environmental strain.
Bio:
Cultural Anthropology professor and emerging visual artist. Both teaching and art work are informed by ethnographic fieldwork research: projects with Bedouin tribes, urbanites in post-war Lebanon, New York City women artists, and the art scene in Jordan. Mixed-media art work takes the form of flat, relief, and standing pieces, hybrid restructurings of found books and print matter modified by hand rolling and quilling, weaving, and paint, which mesh forms from modern and post-modern visual arts with techniques from traditional Arabic handicrafts.
Website: aseelsawalha.com
Instagram: @aseel.sawalha.art
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