Park Hours:
Socrates is open 365 days a year from 10 a.m. until sunset.
Socrates is open 365 days a year from 10 a.m. until sunset.
Socrates Sculpture Park was an abandoned landfill and illegal dump site until 1986 when a coalition of artists and community members,under the leadership of sculptor Mark di Suvero, transformed it into an open studio and exhibition space for artists and a neighborhood park for local residents. The Park is an innovative public/private partnership that has become an internationally renowned outdoor museum and artist residency program that also serves as a vital New York City park offering a wide variety of free public programs.Located in an industrial neighborhood in Long Island City, Socrates is a waterfront park that overlooks the Manhattan skyline; the site is an affecting and inspiring place for artists to work and a spectacular setting for the presentation of public art. To date, Socrates has hosted close to 800 artists and currently attracts more than 75,000 visitors annually. Socrates Sculpture Park's existence is based on the belief that reclamation, revitalization and creative expression are essential to the survival, humanity and improvement of our urban environment. Socrates Sculpture Park is the only site in the New York Metropolitan area specifically dedicated to providing artists with opportunities to create and exhibit large-scale sculpture and multi-media installations in an outdoor environment that invites interaction between artists, artworks and the public. Socrates is a laboratory where experimentation and innovation expand, reinvent and redefine the tradition of art in public spaces.