Socrates Sculpture Park’s 2025 season starts this month in April, featuring free events and classes. Photo credit: Socrates Sculpture Park.
April 9, 2025 By Jessica Militello
Spring has sprung—and so has the season at Socrates Sculpture Park.
The 2025 lineup is officially underway at the beloved Astoria waterfront park, featuring everything from hands-on classes and live performances to thought-provoking art exhibitions and community gatherings. Located at 32-01 Vernon Blvd., Socrates Sculpture Park has long served as a creative oasis where nature, culture, and community converge.
While the park welcomes visitors year-round, its full slate of seasonal programming traditionally kicks off each April, inviting locals and tourists alike to enjoy outdoor events as the weather warms. Since its founding in 1986, the park has offered a diverse calendar of free events, providing a platform for artists, performers, and educators to engage the public in a uniquely open-air setting.
Large scale art exhibits are a highlight of Socrates Sculpture Park. Photo credit: Socrates Sculpture Park.
“Socrates Sculpture Park is a vibrant ecosystem where art, nature, and community engagement converge,” said Shaun Leonardo, co-director of Socrates Sculpture Park. “We’re excited to welcome back beloved collaborators alongside new partners with our programming, harnessing the power of the arts to foster creative experiences, collaboration, and environmental awareness.”
With both the park’s new season and Earth Day falling in April, Socrates Sculpture Park will host the 4th Annual Earth Month Convergence on Saturday, April 19 and Saturday, April 26. The two-day program is a collaboration between Start: Empowerment and Dandelions Assembly, bringing together organizers, educators, artists, healers, and community members for a celebration of environmental justice and cultural resilience.
Attendees can take part in a wide variety of activities, including hands-on workshops, youth programming, art-making, seed sharing, and locally prepared food, all hosted by local organizers and Indigenous guests from Latin America. The convergence will also feature live performances, music, and ceremonial gatherings, creating a space for reflection, learning, and collective action rooted in community care and ecological awareness.
Past events and performances at Socrates Sculpture Park. Photo credit: Socrates Sculpture Park.
“Our programs celebrate artistic expression and collaboration and also highlight urban landscapes that can be both culturally and ecologically enriching year-round. We cannot wait for you to join us,” said Katie Dixon, co-director of Socrates Sculpture Park.
Socrates Sculpture Park continues to uplift emerging voices in contemporary art through The Socrates Annual Fellowship, and the 2025 recipients have just been announced. Selected from a competitive pool of over 300 applicants, this year’s fellows are Natalia Nakazawa, Pioneers Go East Collective, Rowan Renee, Catherine Telford-Keogh, and Zipporah Camille Thompson.
The fellowship offers artists the opportunity to produce and exhibit large-scale public artworks within the park’s open landscape, providing both visibility and support for bold, site-specific creations. The 2025 curatorial theme, “Up/rooted,” explores the emotional and physical complexities of relocation, adaptation, ecological preservation, and the evolving needs of communities in pursuit of a more just and resilient future.
The park provides a platform for upcoming artists to showcase their work. Photo credit: Socrates Sculpture Park.
“Challenging the traditional individualist framework of artmaking, this year’s Artist Fellows propose visionary approaches to socially engaged and ecologically attuned worldmaking,” said Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas, the curator and director of exhibitions of Socrates Sculpture Park. “Through reciprocal exchanges with communities and the natural world, their projects cultivate new models of collective care and resilience.”
The park’s new season also includes a vibrant lineup of free activities and events, from sunset meditation sessions with Mindful Astoria and Yoga with Astoria Yoga, to the 2025 Socrates Gala in June and a variety of fun, family-friendly classes and programs running throughout the warmer months.
Socrates Sculpture Park hosts free classes like Yoga and Sunset Meditation. Photo credit: Socrates Sculpture Park.
Visit the park’s official website to explore the full 2025 events calendar, featuring a complete schedule of classes, performances, exhibitions, and community programs.
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