Artist Sheila Pepe has created her first outdoor exhibition, My Neighbor’s Garden, which opened on June 26 in Madison Square Park. Through her crochet practice, Pepe brings color, unexpected materials, and optimism to the site. Pepe, a feminist and lesbian artist whose elaborate web-like structures summon and critique conventional women’s craft practice, uses crochet to transform contemporary sculpture. 

Inspired by the community gardens that the artist experiences in her Bay Ridge, Brooklyn neighborhood, Pepe collaborated with the Conservancy’s horticulture team, who designed the beds and cultivated uncommon heirloom vegetables and flowering vines that will climb and engage with Pepe’s crochet, allowing a dynamic interaction between built materials and the natural world. From June through December, the exhibition will evolve as vining plants such as bitter melon, sour gherkin, long bean, and morning glory meld with Pepe’s work, fulfilling her vision and creating unique viewing opportunities across the seasons.

Stephanie Lucas, Director of Park Operations and Horticulture at Madison Square Park Conservancy, notes, “My Neighbor’s Garden is truly rooted in the park. Each vine, flower, fruit, and stitch reflects the whimsy of community effort and the joy of seasonal change.”

When you visit My Neighbor’s Garden, note the diverse plant life that adds vitalism to the project, as well as the additional plantings our horticulture team selected for the areas around the Farragut monument and Reflecting Pool, the Southern Fountain, and the Seward and Conkling monuments. For more detail on the plants included in My Neighbor’s Garden, download our horticulture map on this page.