Outdoor Art Exhibition

The Artist Gardener NYC, public art program based in Central Harlem is pleased to present an inaugural exhibition “KOHA -Gift-“.

July 24 - September 30, 2021

Opening reception: Saturday, July 24th 2-7pm

The exhibition, featuring eight sculptures and installations by six New York-based artists, is inspired by the indigenous Māori people’s custom of Koha, which means' a gift from the heart’. A way to express gratitude, Koha centers around acknowledging people and showing respect and can take the form of a physical gift, donation, offering, contribution, or something intangible like a story, or a piece of advice.

On view across the garden, the artworks invite viewers to experience art, the natural world, and the relationship between the two in a new way, creating an engaging and immersive space where they can take an active part in the tradition of reciprocity: giving, caring and sharing. The theme of gift extends beyond the artworks as the public is invited to bring Koha to their communities. Various public events such as an art workshop and a guided tour of the neighborhood are planned during the exhibition.

The exhibition reflects the program’s mission to bring artists and public green spaces together to improve the lives of people and neighborhoods through art and is organized with support from the community and a grant from Partnerships for Parks.

About The Program:

The Artist Gardener (TAG) NYC is a public art program that brings artists and public green spaces together to improve the lives of people and neighborhoods through art. TAG welcomes passionate people who want to share their knowledge, skills, or projects with the community gardens, and help to sustain and preserve green spaces.

About participants and artwork:

Bruna D’Alessandro/Artist and co-founder of the program

Tea in The Garden with Sweets (steel, stainless steel, brass. 2021)

Inspired by Children's Tea Party sets and fond memories from childhood, the artist plays on the theme ‘still life’ creating an immobile “Tea in the Garden with Sweets'' sculpture from steel and hand-forged metal that includes a tea table, a vase of roses, small tea plates, a teapot, and sweets. The viewers are invited to play with the sculpture, move the objects, have endless imaginary cups of tea, and take part in the magic moment of make-belief.

Haksul Lee/Artist and co-founder of the program

Breathe in Time with One Another (stainless steel, acrylic paint, polyurethane, plexiglass. 2021)

“Breathe in Time with One Another” explores a sense of Being, or existing, by examining time as both an absolute value and as a relative value, as our relative perceptions of it differ from one another. This multimedia sundial has a pointer that gently sways and spins with the wind and a dial that is fixed and aligned for accuracy. The accuracy of the dial is ironically countered by the moving pointer that changes according to the situation. This inaccuracy by various conditions rather celebrates the diversity than is defined as “Wrong” since it still follows the sun.

Shantel Rose Miller/Artist and co-founder of the program

Earth, Water & Bird Seeds (steel. 2021)

It is an assemblage of shelter, playground, refuge, and nourishment for the Birds. This Sculpture is my gift to the Birds, a place made especially for them to have and to encounter in their passage of movement and flight.

Natsuki Takauji/Artist and co-founder of the program

“Wish Garden”

Lucky Charms (Mixed media. 2021) / Wish Daily (Steel, various commercial products. 2021)

The art installation “Wish Garden” brings out the act of wishing and raises the fundamental question about its role and power throughout human history. It consists of two artworks, “Lucky Charms”, and “Wish Daily”.

“Lucky Charms”: Dating back centuries, the belief in an invisible protective power took various forms as lucky charms, which in our times have become deeply commercialized. In her piece, the artist looks to explore various aspects of the theme including the devaluation in quality, man-made vs machine-made, and alterations of ideas and designs as a result of commercialism. She invites the viewers to question the actual value of the product in front of them.

“Wish Daily”: In this sculpture, the artist incorporates and juxtaposes elements from a sacred place, such as a Shinto shrine, with a mass-market product, such as Ikea furniture. . Visitors are invited to write down a wish on cards for themselves and others. “Wish Daily” invites us to think about what makes us wish, what makes a place sacred, and how the act of wishing is intertwined into our personal and communal lives.

Patricia Talbot/Artist

No.711 (steel. 2017)

Talbot values working with the discarded steel she finds in the streets of New York. Where others might only see trash in broken construction beams or rusty pipes, she sees the seeds of something beautiful. A seemingly unyielding material to work with, it feels incredibly gratifying to give a new life to those old objects, once deemed useless and therefore worthless. Talbot’s work is about giving back to the world what it had already discarded. In a way, second chances are the most meaningful gifts we can give.

Yeon Ji Yoo/Artist

How To Trap A Loved One In This Life -Honey Lure- (resin. 2021)A Life (resin, cement. 2021)Totem (resin, cement. 2021)

In the cement-and-resin pieces presented in this show, the artist uses the form of the house as the stand-in for the reflective body and mind as we slowly emerge from the long COVID-caused hiatus in our interior spaces. Visitors will find these pieces in the soil among the greenery and spy them hanging in the branches. All these structures are totems of density or light, to be experienced by the visitors as touchstones to their own selves. Through her art, the artist imagines herself in the light - transparent, translucent, trapping and transforming light as it filters through her to those around.

Francine Rogers/curator and co-founder of the program

Francine Rogers is deeply invested in working closely with artists, communities, and youth groups to develop ideas, artworks, workshops, performances, and exhibitions. She is a guest curator at SLA Art Space and works with emerging and established artists. She is a co-founder of “The Artist Gardener NYC”, a public art program encompassing public art projects by artist-driven initiatives in the public gardens and urban spaces.

Aubrey Jackson/Garden Manager and co-founder of the program

Once a parking lot, the 132 Street Community Garden has been in operation since 1993, under the leadership of Aubrey Jackson. Today, the garden flourishes with help from grants, individual donors, Block Association, and volunteers. Under Aubrey’s management, the garden is open to the public and offers a unique opportunity for the diverse community to preserve and enrich their neighborhood by engaging artists, residents, and volunteers through collaborative work and fellowship.

Stay home if you feel sick. If you are not vaccinated, please wear a mask.

Hand sanitizer, masks and gloves will be available.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

W. 132nd Street Community Garden, 108-114 West 132nd Street, New York, United States