On a hot Friday afternoon, Parks Department Monuments Conservation trainees were working hard giving some TLC to the larger-than-life sculpture of abolitionist organizer and Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman in Harlem by artist Alison Saar.
It’s at the intersection of St. Nicholas Avenue, at West 122nd Street and Frederick Douglass Boulevard.
What You Need To Know
Six public servants were awarded the Sloan Public Service Award on May 28
The honor is awarded by the Fund For the City of New York
Among the winners was longtime Parks Department director of art and antiquities Jonathan Kuhn
“There is a regiment of care that is prolonging the life of [this object], that’s ensuring consistent aesthetic appearance, that’s presenting it, if you will, in the manner in which it’s supposed to be seen,” said Jonathan Kuhn, the director of art and antiquities for the city’s Parks Department.
Kuhn knows a thing or two about the conservation program. He founded it, training more than 145 future conservators and contributing to the maintenance of the city’s collection of monuments. He was recognized last month for his nearly 40-year career with the department by the Fund for the City of New York with its prestigious Sloan Public Service Award.
Architect Michael Arad, who designed the Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, is board chair for the fund.
“I think we all think of ourselves as New Yorkers, but New York wouldn’t be New York City if we didn’t have our municipal employees taking care of New York City. Every aspect of it. This is a great city to be part of, and we just want to thank the people that make it work day in and day out,” he said.
Kuhn stewards the Parks Department’s public art collection and oversees temporary exhibitions around the five boroughs, plus curates exhibitions at the Arsenal Gallery in Central Park.
“It was deeply moving, actually, and also to hear the testimonies of my fellow awardees, all of them were throwing themselves into what they do on behalf of the public. We don’t do it for awards,” said Kuhn of the awards ceremony.
Winners of the Sloan Public Service Award receive $10,000 and a commemorative portrait alongside their award.
Other winners included Daniel Greene from NYCHA; Danielle Keane of P.S. 5, the Port Morris School of Community Leadership; Larissa Larrier of the Brooklyn Public Library; Frank Lettera of the Sanitation Department; and Dr. Theodore Long of NYC Health + Hospitals.
The honors have been awarded since 1973, and 325,000 municipal employees are eligible for the prize.
Kuhn said even after nearly four decades — he was hired by legendary Parks Commissioner Henry Stern — he still feels like he has more to give.
“I’ve got skin in the game still. Admittedly, I’d also like to maybe step out of the way at some point, not immediately, but in a few years, to give, I have some wonderful staff — I’m tearing up — that could take over,” he said. “It’s deeply engaging to go almost anywhere in the city and see the results of one’s work.”
As Kuhn said, he was trying to avoid the cycles of rise and decline for these objects. They have moved from a restoration and conservation model to a preservation model.