In Queens: Abstract Garden Bursting With Color In Artwork Commissioned By DCLA’s Percent For Art Program With SCA’a Public Art For Public Schools

Queens, NY—The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), in partnership with the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA), is delighted to announce a new artwork commission “Sunbursts in the Garden of Dreams” by artist Daru Jung Hyang Kim. The artwork is a unique, permanent installation created specifically for the new P.S. 26 addition in Queens, which will offer 399 seats to New York City elementary students. In line with Public Art for Public School’s mission, “Sunbursts in the Garden of Dreams” seeks to create welcoming, inspiring experiences for students, families, faculty and community members.

The artwork was commissioned by DCLA’s Percent for Art program, in collaboration with SCA’s Public Art for Public Schools, and NYC Public Schools. It will join the more than 2,000 artworks in NYC Public Schools’ official art collection, which dates back to the late 1800s and features such esteemed artists as Romare Bearden, Donna Dennis, Jeffrey Gibson, Hans Hoffmann, Faith Ringgold, Sarah Sze, and Louis Comfort Tiffany.

“Sunbursts in the Garden of Dreams” consists of a painted collage that is digitally printed across five tall glass panels. Twenty textured, hand-painted, and hand-blown glass disks float on top of the composition, adding depth and inviting a sense of tactility to the artwork. The artwork depicts circular forms in cheerful blues, reds, oranges, and greens bubbling across an expanse of vibrant yellow. These are the artist’s fantastical interpretation of familiar forms in nature—abstracted flowers, seeds, and sunbursts. Positioned along the back wall of the lobby, the artwork greets visitors as they first enter the school and can be observed from all angles as students pass through the corridor to the cafeteria.

Jung Hyang Kim took inspiration from P.S. 26’s strong connections to its surrounding green spaces, like Oak Grove and Cunningham Park. Her references to the plants and seeds one might find in these parks are also symbolic of the students’ dreams, ambitions, creativity, and emotional development throughout their primary education.

“Art in our public schools plants seeds of imagination, resilience, and ingenuity,” said NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Laurie Cumbo. “With ‘Sunbursts in the Garden of Dreams,’ Daru Jung Hyang Kim has created a radiant work that mirrors the potential of every student who walks these halls. Through our Percent for Art program, we’re proud to bring vibrant public artwork like this to schools around the city, cultivating environments where creativity can flourish and inspire the next generation of thinkers, dreamers, and changemakers.”

“At the SCA, we understand that a school’s physical environment is essential to supporting student growth and success,” said President and CEO of the NYC School Construction Authority Nina Kubota. “’Sunbursts in the Garden of Dreams’ captures the spirit, imagination, and boundless potential of our students. It’s a vibrant example of how we strive to make our school buildings places that inspire learning—not just through architecture and design, but through the art that lives within them.”

“We are thrilled to welcome ‘Sunbursts in the Garden of Dreams’ into our collection,” said Public Art for Public Schools Director Tania Duvergne. “Jung Hyang Kim’s unique visual language is exuberant and infectiously joyful. Her use of drawing, collage and various glass fabrication methods creates unexpected and effervescent moments for students to discover bit by bit over time.”

“Seeds are small but mighty,” said artist Daru Jung Hyang Kim. “They must travel long distances and be resilient to the elements in order to find new places to grow and blossom. They are full of potential and represent the hope we have for the future.”

Jung Hyang Kim’s artwork was fabricated by Derix Glasstudios. Additional expertise was provided by project architects di Domenico + Partners in conjunction with SCA.

Daru Jung Hyang Kim (b. 1955, Daegu City, South Korea; lives and works in New York, NY) is known for her collage and painted artworks that evoke patterns and forms found in the natural world. Her compositions often feature delicately rendered circular forms in diaphanous layers that accumulate like stars in a galaxy. Jung Hyang Kim has achieved notable recognition in the art world; she has exhibited at the Bronx Museum of Art, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts, and the Phillips Museum of Art, among others. She has received numerous public art commissions and her work is owned by major corporations, private collectors and museums. The commission at P.S. 26 Addition, Queens is Jung Hyang Kim’s first public artwork in a school setting.