GARDENS



Since the Park's early years, Plant Specialists, a talented team of architects, designers and horticulturists, has donated trees and plants to the Park and continues to do so today. In 2006, the company's owner, Grahame Hubbard, began serving as a Socrates board member, and furthered their commitment to the Park by helping to enhance the landscape, as well as to redefine and expand the Park's Community Works Initiative Program.

Plant Specialists has also dedicated its resources and expertise to the Park's Exhibition and Education Programs by offering materials to artists' installations and by partnering on our annual Earth Day event.



Earth Day
Friday, May 29, 9 AM - 3 PM (rain or shine)
Socrates Sculpture Park, Plant Specialists, City Parks Foundation, Partnerships for Parks, and The Baccalaureate School for Global Education's students and teachers celebrate Earth Day with hands-on training and workshops for students to learn specialized landscaping techniques - including weeding, planting and pruning skills - culminating in the planting of a community vegetable garden in the Park.

The Community Works Initiative Program
The CWIP offers employment and job training to area residents including the nearby Astoria housing projects. Participants learn basic landscaping and horticulture skills while performing grounds keeping duties and tending to the Park's gardens. The program builds appreciation for the natural landscape, provides marketable skills and future employment options, and offers exposure to the Park's various cultural resources that are available to them and their friends, families and neighbors. The CWIP employees gain technical skills and expertise from special workshops with Plant Specialists' staff and through the guidance of a Plant Specialists gardener, who is assigned to the Park full-time.