For several months each year, a new art installation embeds itself into the park. From now until December 2023, Sheila Pepe’s (she/her) My Neighbor’s Garden is on display. Anyone with a hobby in knitting and crocheting will tell you that they typically work in inches, though this massive installation can only be discussed in yards. This extravagant project called for hobbyists across New York City to assemble the intricate piece over four sessions in March. Dozens of people gathered to enact Pepe’s vision and transform Madison Square Park, sparking joy in passersby.

A feminist and queer artist, Pepe’s work comments on the access, or lack thereof, that people have to certain spaces. Unlike much of the art hidden away in museums, this piece is easy and free to access. There are no unspoken rules for how you can engage with the work. New Yorkers are encouraged to interact with it in any way they see fit. In fact, this installation invites people to access it, inciting insightful dialogues that both inspire and challenge people.

The efforts behind this installation derive from the Madison Square Park Conservatory, a donation-dependent nonprofit responsible for the park’s maintenance from emptying the trash cans every fifteen minutes to coordinating community programming. Truth Murray-Cole (she/they), the Senior Curatorial Manager at the Conservatory, spearheads the project management behind the art installations at the park. A first-generation college student herself, Murray-Cole now provides tours to Baruch courses, like the Arts in New York City. She encourages Baruch students and professors to engage with the work they do at the Conservatory. On the website, you can find robust public programs and an exhibition catalog. Whether you choose to partake in a free public program, glance at the installation on your commute home, or spark a conversation about the piece in one of your classes, Madison Square Park exemplifies the mission of Baruch College by increasing students’ access and engagement with education, culture, art, and the world around them.

Paisley Shultz, BBA ‘23

Doctoral Student, Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Baruch College and the CUNY Graduate Center