High Line Art Wants You To Weigh in on Its Next Plinth Sculpture

NidSummary

• High Line Art has opened public comments on 62 commission proposals for its 2029 and 2030 Plinth program
• The resulting feedback will assist the curatorial committee in choosing the final contender shortlist
• The artist pool features many notable contemporary artists, such as Nina Chanel Abney, Kevin Beasley, Kathleen Ryan, Anicka Yi, and more

A stroll down the High Line, the above-ground trail in lower Manhattan, will take you past some stunning city views, lush gardens, and exceptional contemporary art. The park has held down a robust slate of commissions in recent years, plotting massive works by the likes of Katherine Bernhardt, Tyler Mitchell, Sasha Gordon, and Derek Fordjour against the West Side’s towering backdrop.

Of its must-sees is the Spur, the park’s newest easternmost section, also home to the monumental Plinth, and, once again, High Line Art is asking the public to weigh in on its future presentations. The public art program has unveiled 62 artist proposals for large-scale commissions that will take over the elevated park in 2029 and 2030.

Located along the Spur, overlooking 10th Avenue at West 30th Street, the Plinth has grown to be one of New York’s many iconic stages for public art since 2019. The bridge-top park has played host to several city-favorite sculptures, like Iván Argote’s giant pigeon, “Dinosaur” (2024), and Simone Leigh’s inaugural “Brick House” (2019).

Currently up through fall 2027 is Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s “The Light That Shines Through the Universe” (2026), a 27-foot-tall sandstone sculpture of a Bamiyan Buddha, emulating two now-destroyed statues carved in the cliffs of Afghanistan over two millennia ago. Nguyen’s successor has already been chosen, and the winning project will be under wraps until it’s officially unveiled later next year.

Nestled between the Spur gardens, thousands of perennials, trees, and shrubs, the Plinth commissions offer artists a rather unique platform to inspire audiences, embedding themselves in the surrounding concrete vistas with ambitious scope and scale.

Community feedback helps the curatorial committee narrow the pool of proposals into a final shortlist. Hailing from 37 countries, the 2029 and 2030 contenders feature a number of leading contemporary names, including Nina Chanel Abney, Jonathan Lyndon Chase, Ali Cherri, Kathleen Ryan, Anicka Yi, Dawn Ng, Laure Prouvost, Wendy Red Star, Kei Imazu, Es Devlin, and Kevin Beasley.

Renders of all 62 proposals are now up for consideration online. Head to the High Line’s website to learn more about each project.