There’s a free art gallery on the third floor of NYC Parks’ own headquarters at 830 Fifth Avenue, at 64th Street, and most people who walk past the Arsenal every day have never been inside. Through Friday, Nov. 6, it’s holding New Dendrology — a group exhibition of eleven artists on the subject of trees.
The practical details:
- What: New Dendrology, group show — eleven artists studying trees and the human relationship to them
- Where: Arsenal Gallery, Central Park, 830 Fifth Ave. at 64th St., third floor
- When: Weekdays, 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Sept. 11 – Nov. 6, 2026; closed holidays
- Cost: Free admission
- Artists: Mariel Collard, Karin Giusti, Mark Heller, Anya Hoyer, Ekene Ijeoma, Gail Karlsson, sTo Len, Anthoula Lelekidis, Matthew López-Jensen, Amanda Lovelee, Laura Nova
- Questions: ArtandAntiquities@parks.nyc.gov or 212-360-8143
What separates this from a standard group show is how participatory some of it is. Matthew López-Jensen’s contribution involves readings with The New York City Street Tree Tarot, a deck-and-book project published by Simon & Schuster; Laura Nova’s involves commitment ceremonies officiated for trees. Both are the sort of strange, civic-minded gestures that make a city-run gallery more interesting than its address suggests — and they invite an actual relationship with the street trees you already walk past.
Because it’s indoors with weekday hours, this is the rare free park-area plan that survives bad weather and doesn’t require giving up an evening: a midday or early-afternoon stop near the park’s east side, on the books for six more weeks. Free, indoor, and almost nobody knows it’s there — take the detour.