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This Summer: New Sound Art by Stephen Vitiello

A bell in Herald Square recorded for A Bell for Every Minute, courtesy the artist and Creative Time

Details for a  major new art installation, going in on the High Line this summer, have been finalized.

Building on the success of  Spencer Finch’s installation in the Chelsea Market Passage, we’re once again partnering with public art superstars Creative Time and the public art wing of the Parks Department. This time, we commissioned a site-specific multi-channel sound piece from artist Stephen Vitiello, entitled A Bell for Every Minute. The piece will be installed in the 14th Street Passage, another semi-enclosed space where the High Line runs through a former industrial building.

“Night Falls on the High Line” Video

Still from "Night Falls on the High Line".

This video is helping us ease into our week.

Daniel Turkewitz has woven together a series of shots on the High Line–clouds passing over the Hudson, delicate grasses fluttering in the breeze, sky changing from gold to inky blue, and ethereal images of people as they travel through the park.  It’s a  beautiful, dreamy video.

Happy Monday,  New York.

High Line-inspired Art: Sur la ligne/On the line

Jan Gilbert's "Sur la ligne/On the line" at 571 Projects.

571 Projects in Chelsea is now showing a High Line-inspired work by artist Jan Gilbert. The New Orleans native makes her debut in New York with a piece entitled Sur la ligne/On the line. In the gallery’s press release, Gilbert states that the High Line “serves as a superb viewing pedestal of this vibrant, quirky, industrial layer of the city.”  Her photographic works combine multiple perspectives on views from the High Line, and the images are embalmed in a transparent membrane.

Snowy Night

All the snow we’ve had lately has made us see the High Line’s landscape in a new way. Drifting snow changes the shape of the planting beds and pathways. The monochromatic palate of the landscape makes the skeletal forms of grasses, trees and other landscape elements really pop. Railroad tracks retain heat and melt through the snow while the white blanket covers the rest of the beds.

One of our favorite surprises has been the way L’Observatoire‘s lighting elements interact with the falling snow. Patrick Cullina, our Vice President of Horticulture and Park Operations, shot some footage of snow falling at night. We encourage you to come up on a snowy night to see for yourself — with 2 to 5 inches expected by the end of the day, tonight might be the night.

Preparing for Spring Growth

The Chelsea Grasslands this fall. Photo by Bjoern Amherd.

Now that spring is approaching, our gardeners are beginning the cutback process, which will provide space for new growth during the warmer months.  In a traditional garden, plants are cut back when their stalks begin to dry during autumn.   In keeping with planting designer Piet Oudolf’s belief that a plant’s dried seed heads are just as beautiful and important as its flowers, the High Line’s vegetation was left in its natural state.

Weekend Snow on the High Line

While this week’s snowstorm turns brown, slushy, and inconvenient on street level, it’s still clean and beautiful up on the High Line.  There’s quite a bit of snow left–come up and enjoy it this weekend!  (Perhaps even make it part of a romantic date on Sunday?)

Weather permitting, we’ll be open for regular winter hours, 7:00 AM – 8:00 PM, with the last entry at 7:45 PM.  Check our Web site for updates.

The High Line Digs Out

Gardener Johnny Linville clears a path through the Chelsea Grasslands.

Come see the High Line in its stylish white coat! After the snow stopped falling early this morning, our Maintenance and Operations team spent several hours using snow blowers, shovels and an eco-friendly de-icer to clear the High Line’s paths and stairways. The park is now open south of 16th Street, and we expect a complete opening very soon. UPDATE: The entire park is now open!

30th Street Access Point: Cutting Complete!

Photograph by Tim Schenck

We love this shot by Tim Schenck of Silman Associates, the High Line’s structural engineering firm. It shows the progress, and the context, of the new access point at 30th Street, what will be the northernmost point of Section 2.

Earlier: Section 2 Construction: 30th Street Entrance

February Blooms

Dawn bondant viburnum in bloom.

February is unexpectedly interesting for blooms on the High Line.  This month features three plants: witch hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Pallida’), Dawn bodnant viburnum (Viburnum x bodnantense ‘Dawn’), and sweet box (Sarcococca hookeriana).

The rose-colored buds in the picture above are the beginnings of blooms on a Dawn bodnant viburnum, a shrub that flowers during the bleakest part of the winter.  Its clusters of flowers have an excellent fragrance in late winter/early spring.