NEW YORK, NY.- The Art Students League of New York in partnership with NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program and the Riverside Park Conservancy is proud to announce the participating artists for the 2023 Works in Public program. Featuring new large-scale artworks by League artists Helen Draves and Susan Markowitz Meredith the sculptures will be installed at Riverside Park South in Manhattan in a year-long public exhibition beginning in July 2023. Two additional projects, which will be installed at Riverside Park in Manhattan, will be unveiled in fall 2023 by artists Sophie Kahn and Marco Palli.

Works in Public, formerly known as Model to Monument, is a professional development program founded in 2010 in partnership with NYC Parks to guide League students through the process of creating large-scale sculpture for outdoor public spaces within the context of one-year and two-year programs at the Art Students League of New York. Under the guidance of Works in Public alumni Haksul Lee and Natsuki Takauji, alongside instructors at the League, the program supports artist-participants in every phase of the conception, creation, and installation of site-specific public sculpture, culminating in a one-year public exhibition at Riverside Park and Riverside Park South.

Michael Hall, Artistic & Executive Director, The Art Students League: “We are thrilled to present the Works in Public 2023 season after an unexpected three-year hiatus. This year’s projects represent the exceptional work of League artists and address timely themes for our contemporary world including migration and belonging, technology and the human body, and the healing power of hope. NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks and the Riverside Park Conservancy are the perfect partners for the League with our shared missions to remove barriers to access, both in arts education and in public spaces.”

"After its three-year hiatus, I'm so excited to welcome back the Works in Public program, which enhances our public greenspaces while also nurturing the artistic talent that makes New York the cultural capital of the world,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. "I'm grateful to the Art Students League for their partnership on this program, and I look forward to seeing these beautiful large-scale sculptures rise in Riverside Park and Riverside Park South for all New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy."

Whitney Dearden, Director of Public Programming, Riverside Park Conservancy said: “Public art has always been an essential part of our programmatic offerings, and the Riverside Park Conservancy is thrilled to welcome back the Art Students League and Works in Public to Riverside Park South. As part of our commitment to activating public greenspace, we invite parkgoers to visit these sculptures over the next year and experience a familiar park in a new and exciting way.”

Helen Draves
Hope, 2023
On view July 2023 through July 2024
Riverside Park South




Helen Draves (b. South Korea) lives in Long Island, NY. Working across media, Draves explores the passage of time and its physical and metaphorical impact on memory. In her Works in Public sculpture titled Hope, Draves continues these themes in an empathetic reflection on the Covid-19 pandemic. Inspired by a childhood memory of folding paper cranes, which have long been recognized as symbols of hope and healing, Draves created a collection of ceramic birds that when arranged together form the shape of a medical mask. The sculpture also includes medical masks cast in resin, which are transcribed with open-sourced messages intended to express the hope, loss, and memories of those affected by the pandemic, to serve as a reminder of the power of art to facilitate healing, foster connections, and inspire hope.

Susan Markowitz Meredith
LIFE DANCE, 2023
On view July 2023 through July 2024
Riverside Park South

Susan Markowitz Meredith (b. Denver, Colorado) lives in New York, NY. Meredith’s LIFE DANCE features three intertwining three-dimensional forms, representing the concept of mutual arising. Drawing inspiration from intertwining spiral forms found in nature, the three central shoots rise from a common source and engage with each other. Each shoot carries a progression of transparent step-like forms that serve as metaphors for an intangible growth process–suggesting that individual experiences are not isolated, and that society grows and flourishes by embracing our differences and recognizing our interconnections.

Works in Public

The Works in Public (WiP) program, formerly known as Model to Monument, is a professional development program that was begun in 2010 in partnership with NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program. WiP trains a diverse, international group of League students in the process of creating large-scale sculpture for outdoor public spaces. Forty-six artists have completed this program and have had their sculptures installed in year-long public exhibitions at Riverside Park South between 59th and 72nd Street and Riverside Park at 145th Street.

Alumni artists of the program include Sequoyah Aono, John Balsamo, Sheila Berger, Sherwin Banfield, Tanda Francis, Roberto Franzone, Damon Hamm, Akihiro Ito, Sarah Thompson Moore, Yasumitsu Morito, and Minako Yoshino.

The Art Students League of New York was founded in 1875 by students breaking away from the National Academy of Design. That independent spirit remains at the League today, where students pursue their work unconstrained by dogma, politics, or burdensome tuition. We educate students in the language and process of making art in an environment where anyone who wishes to pursue arts education can realize his or her full potential. The League fulfills this mission by offering affordable, high-quality education and instruction in painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and assemblage. Artists who have studied at The League include Georgia O'Keeffe, Norman Lewis, Robert Rauschenberg, Emilio Sanchez, Yayoi Kusama, and Ai-Weiwei, among others.