Celebrate Summer Solstice at Socrates Sculpture Park 2026 Annual Opening

Socrates Sculpture Park will be hosting its’ 2026 Annual Summer Solstice Opening Celebration on Sunday, June 21 from 5:00–8:30 PM, highlighting the start of their exhibition “Artists Choose Artists: The Socrates Annual Fellowship Anniversary” which honors 30 years of the Socrates Annual Fellowship.

The waterfront event opens the first three site-specific installations by 2026 Artist Fellows Josué Guarionex, Jeremy John Kaplan, and Nicole Mouriño. These works have been built onsite since March and will remain part of a larger unfolding exhibition that continues through Fall 2027, introducing ten total installations across the park over the summer.

The solstice celebration brings together art, performance, and community programming with live DJ sets and experiences by DJ Christian Martir of Sociedad Life, Caridad de La Luz (La Bruja), and Rebecca Gual, along with hands-on artmaking workshops. Visitors can also join a sunset paddle with the Long Island City Community Boathouse.

The evening also highlights existing landmark works in the park, including Chakaia Booker’s monumental sculptures Serendipity (1998), Gridlock (2008), and LIKE (2009), which remain on view as part of the park’s evolving outdoor exhibition landscape.

Free and open to the public with RSVP, the event continues Socrates Sculpture Park’s tradition of transforming the East River shoreline into an open-air space for experimental art, performance, and community gathering.

You can learn more and RSVP for the Summer Solstice celebration here.