Friends of the High Line

Lights, camera, action! 🎥 This week, the High Line Network held its New York City premiere of Ezra Wube's "PROJECT ECOPOLIS," a compilation of four short films commissioned by the High Line Network, with support from High Line Art. Wube collaborated with the High Line and three other High Line Network partners—GROW GREATER ENGLEWOOD (Chicago, IL), Buffalo Bayou Partnership (Houston, TX), and Friends of Waterfront Park (Seattle, WA)—to produce a short stop-motion film inspired by each site. Thank you to our panelists Gabriella Malavé, Karen Farber, Jordan Remington, Gloria I Rivera, and Tanya Ward for joining us for the inaugural New York City screening of "PROJECT ECOPOLIS." It was an exuberent display of animations and scenes of daily life, and we are grateful to all the High Line Network representatives who showcased the spirit of their sites. The series of films will tour participating Network sites in 2024 and 2025, serving as a traveling exhibition to inspire conversations, forge connections, and celebrate community resilience. The Joint Art Initiative explores how High Line Network members can leverage local communities and artists to provoke conversations around public art. 📺 "PROJECT ECOPOLIS" 📍 On the High Line at 14th Street 📆 November 18, 2024 - January 7, 2025 🎫 https://bit.ly/4hAbHJD

In our 15-year history as a park, the High Line's gardens are currently experiencing our driest autumn ever. Amid the second-longest rainless streak since 1869 and the city’s first drought watch in over two decades, our horticulture team’s longtime practices to conserve water and cultivate resilient gardens have taken on even greater value. Our long-standing philosophy of prioritizing resilient and locally adapted plants, water-conscious irrigation practices, and organic and chemical-free pest management are proactive measures that can support our gardens’ survival in extreme conditions and reduce our consumption of critical resources. Although we can't precisely predict every future climate event that will happen on the park, we know our horticulturists remain dedicated to weathering these changes with expertise and a steadfast commitment to serve our fellow New Yorkers and parkgoers. Read our latest blog post to learn more about how we cultivate a resilient landscape—including some tips that can be incorporated into home gardens. 🌾 : https://bit.ly/3AVs8Qg 📷 : Liz Ligon

Detroit had so much to teach us during the High Line Network's 2024 symposium this fall, and we're eager to share everything we learned with cities across the country and the world. The High Line's executive director, Alan van Capelle, and High Line Network member Scott Kratz, director of the 11th Street Bridge Park, recently shared their reflections on the three-day event in a recent op-ed in Crain's Detroit Business. Their major takeaways included insights from Detroit into: 🫂 Involving communities in public placemaking 📜 Incorporating local history in industrial reuse projects 💡 Understanding use-based inclusivity 🎧 Leading by listening To read more about the best practices for public space development that we saw exhibited all across Detroit, check out Alan and Scott's full op-ed in Crain's Detroit today! 📰 https://lnkd.in/eVjsnR7s And thank you once again to our incredible host partners - the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership (JLGP) - for welcoming our High Line Network members and introducing us to a city shimmering with energy and innovation. 📷: Nadir Ali

Remember, friends, kindness is key to resilience. 🤖🫶 We loved reading a recent piece in The New York Times on author, illustrator, and long-time High Line visitor (!) Peter Brown, who shared how the wild landscape of the High Line inspired the creation of his best-selling books, "The Wild Robot" and "The Curious Garden." With over 4.6 million copies sold globally, two sequels, and a movie adaptation, "The Wild Robot" has touched the hearts of readers and moviegoers everywhere with its prescient themes of friendship, connection, and wild-ness. “[The High Line is] about nature existing in an unlikely place, which got me thinking about the inverse: something unnatural existing in a natural place," said Brown. Peter, we feel lucky that the High Line has been able to serve as a source of inspiration throughout your career and for your readers. And to our fellow dreamers—we hope our park can continue to be a place for your creativity and curiosity to flourish. 🌿: https://lnkd.in/ebJazTQY 📷: Graham Dickie/The New York Times

Coming soon to High Line Channel—"PROJECT ECOPOLIS!" 🎥 Ezra Wube presents "PROJECT ECOPOLIS" (2024), a compilation of four short films commissioned by the High Line Network, with support from High Line Art. On Monday, November 18, we'll be welcoming Ezra and his collaborators, Tanya Wood, Gloria I Rivera, Karen Farber, Jordan Remington, and Gabriella Malavé will be present for the High Line Channel premiere and an artist talk! For "PROJECT ECOPOLIS," Wube collaborated with four High Line Network partners – the High Line (New York, NY), Englewood Agro-Eco District (Chicago, IL), Buffalo Bayou Partnership (Houston, TX), and Friends of Waterfront Park (Seattle, WA) – to produce a short stop-motion film inspired by their site. The artist visited each organization and led its local community of students, older adults, local artists, and park visitors in workshops to create joyful portraits of each place. The series of films will tour participating Network sites in 2024 and 2025, serving as a traveling exhibition to inspire conversations, forge connections, and celebrate community resilience. The work is the second Joint Art Initiative (JAI) commission, a program that explores how Network members can leverage public art to inspire civic discourse and deepen connections among the communities surrounding Network projects. We hope to see you at the park for this special High Line Channel presentation and for the premiere and artist talk on November 18th! 📺 "Project Ecopolis," November 18, 2024 - January 7, 2025 📍 On the High Line at 14th Street 📆 Premiere and Artist Talk | November 18th at 6:30pm at The Theatre in the Rubin Museum 🎫 https://bit.ly/4hAbHJD

What a way to kick off November! We're thrilled to share that Alan van Capelle, executive director of Friends of the High Line, has been honored as part of the inaugural class of Village Block Stars! Alan has been recognized alongside 40 other Manhattan-based leaders who are building on the city's incredible legacy for future generations. With a focus on cultivating community and advancing well-being for all New Yorkers, Alan's leadership continues to inspire our team at the High Line to be bold and compassionate in our work. It's an honor to have Alan recognized alongside so many individuals who have dedicated their careers to serving our fellow New Yorkers. Congratulations to everyone recognized for their contributions to the city! Read the full list in PoliticsNY: https://lnkd.in/evwH9xT4

We are still buzzing with ideas and inspiration from our time together with the High Line Network in Detroit! Earlier this month, the High Line Network hosted its 2024 symposium, "Rooted"—a title that gives a nod to our overarching philosophy about how to approach public space making. Led by our team at the High Line, 250 professionals from across North America gathered in Detroit to exchange best practices on transforming disused infrastructure and forgotten places into community-driven public spaces. 🌿 It was a joy to host the largest convening of experts in the urban infrastructure reuse field in a city that offers so many shining examples for how to put people at the center of efforts to revitalize and rebuild. Thank you to our incredible local partners Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Joe Louis Greenway Partnership (JLGP), City Institute, Michigan Central (and Newlab, Detroit), Gilbert Family Foundation, and Knight Foundation for welcoming High Line Network members to Detroit and providing us all with vital learning opportunities. Our gratitude also goes out to all the staff, partners, and attendees who brought this energizing and engaging event to life! The symposium was an incredible opportunity to collaborate with the Network's partners who represent nearly 50 urban infrastructure reuse projects across North America and the community organizations and people making them happen. Detroit, you were an amazing host city to showcase our Network members' best practices in public space development! Stay tuned for more extensive resources, videos of speeches by our incredible keynote speakers, and some of our major takeaways in a future edition of our blog. ✨

The High Line is first and foremost a people-powered park. This month, it was our privilege to wrap up our 2024 volunteer season with a celebration of this season's cohort of High Line volunteers! Joining us from every end of New York City (and even beyond), our dedicated volunteers have been the engine that keeps the High Line thriving since the beginning. We couldn’t keep this public space so vibrant without the folks who share their time, expertise, talent, and energy with our park-goers. To all our phenomenal volunteers—thank you for keeping the magic of the High Line alive! ✨ Want to be a part of this dynamic group of leaders? Sign up to keep in touch with our volunteer network: https://lnkd.in/ezcJsdfa 📷: Liz Ligon, Anita Ng, Rowa Lee

You're going to want to turn your sound up for this one! 🔊 Our senior director of horticulture, Richard Hayden, joined Thomas Christopher on an episode of "Growing Greener," a horticulture-focused podcast produced in partnership with the Berkshire Botanical Garden. Richard shared insights on how our horticulture team has implemented the vision of the park's original garden designer, Piet Oudolf, to successfully integrate native North American plants with carefully chosen exotic species. The result? An experience that supports New York City's wildlife and offers a powerful reconnection with nature for over 7 million parkgoers annually. "Giving people the opportunity to engage with nature and put their nature eyes on...is one of the biggest functions of the High Line...Just providing the green space in this section of New York City that doesn't have a lot is really the biggest service that we can provide," said Richard. 🌿 Listen to Richard's episode of "Growing Greener" today, and plan your next visit to see the High Line's gardens: https://lnkd.in/eQ_Kq8tq

Happy 80th birthday to garden designer, Piet Oudolf! 🥳 Piet's artistry and his pioneering naturalistic—or nature-inspired—approach to garden design were key to translating the wild magic of the self-seeded landscape of the once-derelict railway into the public green space you see today. And we're thankful for all the ways Piet has continued to support the High Line 15+ years on. This month, we were lucky enough for Piet to spend some time on the High Line with our horticulture team. In between a panel with our senior director of horticulture Richard Hayden and photographer Ngoc Minh Ngo and touring the gardens, we even squeezed in an opportunity to celebrate Piet's birthday on the park. Join us today in continuing the celebration by wishing Piet Oudolf a happy birthday! 📸: Liz Ligon