Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Grant Winners:
Congratulations to Drew Seskunas and Annalisa Iadicicco, our 2024 Art in the Parks awardees!
Now in its fifth year, the Art in the Parks: Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park Grant supports the creation of two site-specific artworks by Queens-based artists for designated locations within Flushing Meadows Corona Park that would benefit from more cultural programming. The grant will help transform these sites into art destinations through a series of rotating exhibitions, with supporting events and programs. Generously funded by the Alliance, each grantee receives an award of $10,000 to create their proposed artwork.
What is the Opposite of a Black Hole?
If a black hole absorbs all light and information surrounding it, the opposite would project light and propagate information. This sculpture celebrates the rich history of science in Queens by highlighting residents who worked to expand our understanding of the universe, casting light where before there was darkness.
Located adjacent to the Hall of Sciences, a prismatic ring compiles the names and stories of Queens residents on its reflective faces, combining many known and unknown scientists who have called the borough of Queens home: Dr. Marie Maynard Daly, the first African American woman to receive a doctorate in chemistry in the United States, Dr. Lisa Randall a leading expert on particle physics who researches possibilities for evidence of higher dimensions. Full scientist list and Spanish translation here.
Artist: Drew Seskunas
Drew Seskunas is an architect and director of Seskunas Architecture Workshop on Earth. SAW.EARTH is both an architecture studio and building workshop founded on the idea that working with materials directly leads to more inventive design. Drew’s work aims to elicit a sense of wonder and joy by highlighting the essential elements and systems that combine to give our world meaning and foster universal connections between inhabitants of Earth.
BUMPERMAN: A HERO RISES FROM THE ASHES OF WILLETS POINT
Bumperman, a life-sized superhero sculpture made from recycled car bumpers and auto parts, stands as a powerful symbol of resilience and renewal, celebrating the redevelopment of Willets Point. Created by artist Annalisa Iadicicco, this striking figure honors the area’s vibrant history as a hub for affordable auto repairs, paying tribute to the hardworking immigrant community that defined it. Now, as Willets Point undergoes a transformation into a mixed-use community, Bumperman reminds us of its enduring spirit. Thanks to a grant from the Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park, the installation will be on display at David Dinkins Circle in Flushing Meadows Corona Park through October 2025.
Artist: Annalisa Iadicicco
Annalisa Iadicicco, originally from Italy and now based in New York, is a community-engaged artist whose installations made from recycled materials highlight pressing environmental and social issues. Her work, often involving public participation, sparks dialogue on waste, pollution, and societal inequities and has been shown internationally. As founder of The Blue Bus Project, a nonprofit offering free participatory art events to underserved NYC communities, Annalisa reclaims discarded materials to inspire awareness and action toward a sustainable, just world.
Scroll down to learn more about prior grant winners and their installations:
Gallery of Past Art in the Parks Sculptures in Flushing Meadows Corona Park:
Prior Granted Artists/Works
2022-2023:
Julia Sinelnikova for Light Portal, a multimedia installation that reinterprets Philip Johnson’s Tent of Tomorrow and its Russian antecedent, the Shukhov Rotunda, into a contemporary structure that uses solar panels to encapsulate a sense of the diversity of current-day Queens.
Kisha Bari and Jasmin Chang for Hey Neighbor NYC, an ethnographic snapshot of New York City that highlights ‘Connectors’ from around the city who were chosen by their communities as people who break down the walls separating us.
2021-2022:
Sherwin Banfield for Going Back to The Meadows: A Tribute to Queens Hip Hop Legend LL Cool J and Performance at FMCP, an eight-foot-high bronze sculpture of the Queens-born Hip Hop legend placed on a digital music platform.
Haksul Lee for The Giving Tree, a sculpture made of recycled materials and a wind turbine to honor and bring awareness to environmental concerns in the Queens community.
2020-2021:
Laura Lappi for 7 x 7 (HOPE), which explored the issues of space and the cost of housing in New York City.
Jeannine Han/Dan Riley for Another Way It Could Go, which celebrated connections between local and universal communities.
2019-2020:
Karl Orozco for Hospicio Cabanas (Playable Stage for Thunder Hawk), which interpreted Mexican archetypes, traditional drama, and tech into art and performance.
Yvonne Shortt with Joel Esqute and Mayuko Fujino for Pavilion Landing, a playful sculpture inspired by the 1964/’65 World’s Fair which occurred in the park.
About Art in the Parks
Since 1967, NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks Program has consistently fostered the creation and installation of temporary public art in parks throughout the five boroughs. For more information, please visit www.nycgovparks.org/art-and-antiquities/art-in-the-parks