If you've passed by or visited Glenbrook Park lately, you've probably noticed some big changes! After three years of planning, collaboration, and countless hours of hard work from dedicated volunteers and community members, our new natural playground has finally come to life. What began as an ambitious vision has become a beautiful, nature-inspired space for people of all ages to explore, play, and connect.

But our vision for Glenbrook Park doesn't stop at play.

From the very beginning, functional art has been an essential part of our dream for this space. Now, we're ready to bring that vision to life by introducing nature-inspired public art into the playground - art that sparks curiosity, invites imagination and play, and deepens our connection to the outdoors.

With your support, we can take this exciting next step and make Glenbrook Park not just a place to play, but a place where nature, art, and community come together.

What we're building

We've partnered with three local artists to bring functional artwork to Glenbrook Park.

Hoppy Quick is a chainsaw sculptor known for transforming raw logs into detailed, large-scale black bears. For Glenbrook, he's committed to carving a wooden mushroom toddler-size table and chairs, as well as a climbable bear sculpture for the children to enjoy in the playground, with the potential for more.

Gary Mead is a furniture artist and children's author. He has hand-carved two memorial benches and will carve a one-of-a-kind little free library from local wood. Gary's benches aren't kits - each one is shaped from a single black locust log harvested from the mountains of Big Indian, and sanded and finished by hand.

Hudson Valley Bee Habitat, led by artist Emily Puthoff, designs functioning pollinator habitats that double as public art. For this project, they're creating up to ten artist-made bee hotels and a solitary bee viewing station - structures where local solitary bees can actually nest, right alongside an educational display for park visitors.

Why this matters

Solitary bees pollinate at far higher rates than honeybees, but they don't get the attention - most never see a hive, because most never need one. They nest quietly in the ground, in old logs, in small individual cells. A bee hotel gives them somewhere safe to do that, right in a public park where kids and families can watch it happen.

The bee hotels and viewing station won't stand alone. They'll be woven into a pollinator garden planted throughout the playground's landscape - native flowers and plants surrounding the play structures, so the art and the ecology are part of the same experience. Walk through the park and you're walking through habitat.

A hand-carved bench gives someone a place to sit and remember a person they loved. A wooden bear sculpture gives a five-year-old somewhere unexpected to climb. A little free library, built by a local craftsman, tells every person who walks by that someone cared enough to make it into art.

This is all about putting real artistic vision back into the public spaces we all share.

What your donation funds

You can give toward the project broadly, or contribute directly toward a specific piece. Here's exactly what's being funded:

Memorial benches — $2,000 each (2 available) Hand-carved by Gary Mead. Each bench that receives a dedicated gift will carry a permanent memorial plaque, naming whoever you choose to honor.

Carved mushroom toddler table and chairs — $1,000 Chainsaw-carved by Hoppy Quick. Like the benches, this table and chairs can carry a plaque.

Carved bear sculpture — $5,000 each (1 available) Chainsaw-carved by Hoppy Quick.

Artist-designed little free "gnome" library — approximately $2,000 (1 available) A custom-designed structure by Gary Mead, built to be both functional and beautiful.

Artist-made bee hotels - $1,700 each (up to 10 available) Built by Hudson Valley Bee Habitat. Functioning habitat structures for native solitary bees, designed as public art and education.

Solitary bee viewing station - $500 (1 available) An educational structure that lets visitors observe nesting bees up close - a small, lasting piece of science education built into the park itself.

Every gift, at any level, moves us closer to bringing this whole vision to life.

Leave something beautiful

For the memorial benches and the carved sculptures, your gift can become something deeply personal: a dedication, in memory or in honor of someone who mattered to you. Your plaque will be permanently mounted on the piece, visited by your neighbors for years to come.

Why Phoenicia Arts Center

This campaign is run in partnership with Phoenicia Arts Center (PAC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving as fiscal sponsor. That means every donation to this campaign is fully tax-deductible, and 100% of the funds raised go directly toward materials and artist commissions for Glenbrook Park.

PAC's mission has always been to put art at the center of community life - and there's no more democratic, accessible place for that mission to live than a public park.

The timeline

The artists are ready. The designs are set. The only thing standing between today and a finished park is funding. We're launching this campaign because we want to move quickly - some of these items, like the memorial benches and sculptures, are limited in number and will be claimed on a first-come basis.

If you've been waiting for a meaningful way to honor someone, or simply want to put your support behind local artists and a better park for your town, now is the moment.

And this is just the beginning!

Once the artwork is installed, our next goal is to bring free, educational art workshops into Glenbrook Park. Inspired by the art in the playground, the surrounding natural environment, and the creativity of our community, these workshops will offer opportunities for children and adults to explore, create, and learn together.

Our hope is to make Glenbrook Park a place where art isn't just something to admire, but something to experience, participate in, and be inspired by.

Together, we're creating more than a playground. We're building a space for imagination, creativity, and community to grow.

Give today

Whatever you're able to give moves this project forward. Choose a specific piece to sponsor, or contribute toward the project as a whole - every dollar goes toward putting real, lasting, handmade art into a park your whole community will use for generations.

Thank you for believing that parks - and the people who use them - deserve something better!

Art Made for Our Parks

Help us bring handcrafted, functional artwork to Glenbrook Park Natural Playground.