Works in Public

The League’s exclusive public sculpture program, presented in partnership with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

See the current exhibition.

about the program

Create site-specific, large-scale public sculptures for NYC Parks.

Works in Public, originally known as Model the Monument, is a fully-funded program that invites artists to conceive of, create, and install site-specific sculptures in partnership with League instructors, Works in Public advisors, and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. Works in Public participants receive a monthly stipend and a scholarship for a full-time class at the League for the duration of the program.

Since its inception, 46 artists have had their sculptures installed in year-long public exhibitions at Riverside Park South and Riverside Park at 145th Street.

See the current exhibition.

From conception, to construction.

Lead by renowned sculptors and League instructors Haksul Lee and Natsuki Takauji, who are Works in Public alumni, it is a selective and demanding program. Each individual artist works independently to fulfill their requirements, while collaborating with instructors to ensure their artwork is ready for display.

After being on display in New York City, many pieces from the Works in Public program are relocated for permanent exhibition at the Florida Keys Sculpture Trail.

Guest Jurors

Tanda Francis

Tanda Francis is a Brooklyn-based artist with a primary focus of creating monumental African heads and masks for public and personal spaces. Francis has created several site-specific monumental public art pieces including BIGGIE (2014), New York City; Everyone Breaks, Riverside Park, New York City (2015-2016); And We Breath (collaborative), Van Cortlandt Park, New York City (2015-2016); Take Me With You, Socrates Sculpture Park, New York City, (2017-2018); AdornMe, Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn (2017-2018); RockIt Black Queensbridge Park, Long Island City, New York (2021). Her work was been on display in at New York’s MAD Museum of Art and Design and notably has been featured on the cover spread of New York Times Arts and Leisure.

Nora Lawrence

Nora Lawrence is the Artistic Director and Chief Curator of Storm King Art Center, leading its curatorial program and providing vision and guidance for the artistic functions of the institution. Lawrence recently co-curated Lookout, a site-specific commission by Martin Puryear. She led Storm King’s 2021 commission of Sarah Sze’s Fallen Sky. Lawrence has curated exhibitions with several artists, including Mark Dion, Rashid Johnson, and Wangechi Mutu.
In 2016, I found the Art Students League by chance. So, I started my second life in the world of art.
Helen Draves
Work in Public, 2023
I hope to some degree to inspire other people to continue with their dreams.
Marco Palli
Works in Public, 2023

Our Supporters

Works in Public is supported, in part, by The Harry Feinberg Family Foundation, John Padget, The Dr Lawrence Spielberger & Dr Greta Spanierman Family Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. We gratefully acknowledge our community partners the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Riverside Park Conservancy, Manhattan Community Board 7, and Manhattan Community Board 9. Generous in-kind support is provided by Brandywine Valley Fabricators.

For more information, email wip@artstudentsleague.org. To support the program, please email development@artstudentsleague.org.

Begin your artistic journey today

Ready to get started?