Every park tells you something about the community that built it. A park full of catalog benches and plastic play structures says: this was assembled. A park with a hand-carved bench, a one-of-a-kind little free library, and a habitat built by a local artist says something else entirely: this was made, by people who live here, for people who live here.

That's the idea behind Art Made for our Parks — and we need your help to make it real.

What we're building

We've partnered with three local artists to bring functional artwork to Glenbrook Park. Nothing here is mass-produced. Every piece is being made by hand, specifically for this park, by local artists.

Gary Mead is hand-carving memorial benches and 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, sanded and finished by hand, built to last for decades.

Hoppy Quick is a chainsaw sculptor known for transforming raw logs into detailed, large-scale black bears. For Glenbrook, he's committed to carving wooden mushroom sculptures that will become a permanent, playful landmark in the park's natural play space as well as a climbable bear sculpture for the children to enjoy in the playground.

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.

This isn't a concept. The artists are confirmed. Examples of their work already exist. We are ready to build the moment funding is in place.

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 craftsman instead of ordered from a warehouse, tells every person who walks by that someone cared enough to make it into art.

None of this is about decoration. It's 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 sculptures — $1,000 each (2 available) Chainsaw-carved by Hoppy Quick. Like the benches, each mushroom sculpture that's sponsored will carry a memorial 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.

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 mushroom 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 — not tucked away, but built directly into the life of the community.

It's a different kind of memorial. Not a stone in a quiet place, but a bench where someone sits down to rest, a sculpture nestled in the flowers, a piece of the park that's actively, joyfully used.

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. This is what that mission looks like in practice: real artists, real commissions, permanently installed where everyone can enjoy them.

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 mushroom 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.

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 than what comes off a shelf.

Art Made for Our Parks

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