Friends of the High Line

Along the High Line's wildest expanse, the Western Rail Yards, we are proud to present Oliver Lee Jackson's "A Journey"—a series of five massive new steel sculptures. As we celebrate the High Line's 15th year, this stretch of the park, which runs between 30th and 34th Streets and west of 11th Avenue, offers visitors a glimpse of what the High Line was like before it was transformed into the public treasure it is today: a self-seeded landscape with sprawling views of the Hudson River and iconic views into the city's center. Installed in June, Oliver Lee Jackson's expressive works—with their abstract forms and vivid colors—complement and contrast with the untamed landscape and simple path of this section of the park, creating a new way to experience this space. Stop by to see the exhibition and you'll see why we're fighting to #ProtectTheHighLine and the unique magic of the Western Rail Yards. Learn more about the artwork and ways to get involved in our Protect the High Line campaign: protect.thehighline.org/ 📸: Timothy Schenck

¡Arriba! is back on August 15! Join us on the High Line for a fiesta in the sky! 💃 With expert dance instruction by Nieves Latin Dance Studio, live music by Los Hacheros, and DJ Mickey Pérez’s international cross-section of dance music—there’s no better way to enjoy summer in the city. 🎉 📆: Thursday, August 15, 6 – 9pm 📍: On the High Line at 14th Street 🎟️: FREE | Learn more & RSVP at https://lnkd.in/gt6xnEyh

Incoming! A 16-foot pigeon (yup, you read that right) will be "landing" on the Spur this October. We are proud to announce that Iván Argote's sculpture "Dinosaur" has been selected as the fourth #HighLinePlinth commission. “Dinosaur,” like the pigeons that inspired it, invites our neighbors and visitors to bear witness to our city’s evolution and challenge New Yorkers' ever-changing relationship with the natural world. “Most of the time, we place humans on top of this pedestal. Then, my response was not to play the human card but to play the nonhuman one… I saw the pigeon would be something that people would react to in different ways. It’s a very iconic animal or entity, or icon of New York, and also still a marginal creature.” Read the full conversation between Iván Argote and High Line Art's chief curator Cecilia Alemani about our upcoming Plinth commission in New York Magazine to learn more about the landing of "Dinosaur. 📰: https://lnkd.in/g3d9dRRx

Announcing the fourth #HighLinePlinth commission: "Dinosaur" by Iván Argote, nesting on the Spur this October. When Argote proposed this work in 2020, it was clear that this colossal, hyper-realistic sculpture of a pigeon would both ruffle feathers and resonate with New Yorkers, perched atop the High Line Plinth at 30th Street. "Dinosaur," like the pigeons that inspired it, bears witness to our city’s evolution and confronts us with our ever-changing relationship with the natural world and its inhabitants. Learn more about Argote—the first Plinth artist from the global south, and the youngest yet—and this monumental work: https://lnkd.in/gdti9Sc3 📸: Rendering courtesy of the artist, photo by Timothy Schenck.

📍: On the High Line at the Spur at 30th Street and 10th Avenue We're excited to host a special edition of our Seated Conversations series to mark our 15th birthday year! On Wednesday, July 31, community experts will be coming together to share their stories about local neighborhood history and High Line horticulture and art. While this program is catered to older adults, all folks are welcome to join us. Share this the lifelong learners in your life and save your spot today! RSVP today: https://bit.ly/3WjDc0m

After 11 years of groundbreaking leadership, Darren Walker has announced his plans to step down as president of the Ford Foundation at the end of 2025. Darren has played a transformational role in redefining how the Ford Foundation and its partners approached philanthropy on a local and global scale. Throughout his illustrious career and as a member of the Friends of the High Line's Board of Directors, he has been a beacon for equality and social justice and an invaluable thought partner. The High Line would not be the public space it is today without Darren's visionary leadership, and the entire Friends of the High Line team is grateful for his ongoing, inspiring service. 💫 📸 : Nate Langston Palmer for The New York Times 📰: https://lnkd.in/d9kxbMZp

📰Our senior director of horticulture, Richard Hayden, shared a few key lessons with Thomas Rutter about how we cultivate our resilient, urban gardens. Through the purposeful combination of native and non-native plants that each play a different role from season to season, we offer a year-round urban oasis for parkgoers and for animals and wildlife—including more than 30 different bee species. Our gardening practices not only help cultivate biodiversity, they bolster New Yorkers' well-being. “Naturalistic gardens aren't a fad," Richard tells Homes & Gardens. "These plants, our gardens, they speak to something in all of us. We have all experienced nature, and it brings back memories and feelings.” Learn more about our urban gardening techniques in Homes & Gardens or by visiting Wild by Design Since 2009, our on-park exhibition along the High Line: https://lnkd.in/epr6S7YX

And that’s a wrap on this year’s #WestSideFestNYC! 👏👏 The West Side is such a special place for art, culture, and nature, and it was such a joy to see our neighborhood brimming with excitement for a full weekend of programming! Our programming would not have been possible without our friends in the West Side Cultural Network, and we are grateful to our fellow partners for their work to bring this weekend to life! Thank you to our neighbors and collaborators who joined us on the High Line and made this weekend possible. 💕💕

“This will gravely endanger the High Line experience,” shared executive director Alan van Capelle to Stefanos Chen for The New York Times. Today, we launched our campaign to protect the High Line to rethink the proposed rezoning of the Western Rail Yards, which would put the magic of our park in grave peril. We need your support to get the Rail Yards plan back on track. Join our campaign to protect the High Line: ➕ Follow Protect the High Line ➡️ Visit protect.thehighline.org to learn more. 📰 Visit https://nyti.ms/4cCImM2 to read this article in The New York Times.

📣 Big news: Today, we’re officially launching a new campaign to protect the High Line and rethink the proposed rezoning of the Western Rail Yards, which threatens to put the magic of our park in grave peril. Follow our campaign Protect the High Line and visit protect.thehighline.org to learn more! 📷: Timothy Schenck