New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NY Parks) announced March 19:

…22 not-for-profit groups across the state will receive $1.7 million in grants to support the stewardship of state parks, trails, historic sites, and other public lands through the Park and Trail Partnership Grants program. The grants support public private partnerships for maintenance and beautification projects as well as educational programming and special events.

The Park and Trail Partnership Grants program is funded through the state Environmental Protection Fund. Grants are administered in partnership with the not-for-profit advocacy group Parks & Trails New York and the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation.

This tenth round of awards will be matched by more than $500,000 in private funds, exceeding the 10% recipients are required to raise. With record-breaking visitation to state parks and historic sites, these public-private partnerships are invaluable to the increasingly popular public lands and the staff who oversee them.

The Roosevelt Island FDR Four Freedoms Park was one of the groups receiving a grant.

According to NY Parks ,Four Freedoms Park Conservancy received:

… ($150,000) for a juried public art commission program that invites artists
to create site-specific works that establish a dialogue between the artist’s
practice, Louis Kahn’s architecture, the ideals of the Four Freedoms, and
visitors to FDR Four Freedoms State Park.

Four Freedoms Park Conservancy Chief Executive Office Howard Axel adds:

Four Freedoms Park Conservancy is honored to receive a $150,000 matching grant
from the Environmental Protection Funds Park and Trail Partnership Grants
program, recently announced by the Governor. This support will help us launch
and sustain a more formalized annual temporary public art initiative at FDR
Four Freedoms State Park.

In recent years, weve collaborated with artists including Setsuko Winchester, whose Yellow Bowl Project reflected on the fragility of civil liberties; Shaun Leonardo, whose Between Four Freedoms explored the gap between ideals and lived realities; and Mata Ruda, whose large-scale installation addressed themes of immigration and belonging. Each project has invited visitors to reflect on the Four Freedoms President Roosevelt articulated in 1941: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

This grant enables us to build a more articulated and inclusive process for selecting and presenting future works, supporting artists who work at the intersection of social justice and public art to reinforce the Parks role as a platform for civic dialogue and artistic expression.

Howard Axel, CEO , Four Freedoms Park Conservancy

Here’s a reminder of the Yellow Bowl Project installation at Four Freedoms Park

and my 2019 interview at Four Freedoms Park with the artist Setsuko Winchester.

Also, more on the Shaun Leonardo Between Four Freedoms

and Mata Ruda’s This Land Is Our Land exhibition.

More info available at the

Roosevelt Island FDR Four Freedoms Park website.