Denise Markonish to Lead NYC’s Madison Square Park Conservancy
131March 14, 2025
TheMadison Square Park Conservancy, New York, has announced the appointment ofDenise Markonishas its chief curator. Markonish, who since 2007 has served as chief curator of Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts, will step into her new role in June. She succeeds Brooke Kamin Rapaport, who occupied the postsince 2013before announcing her departure this past October. Markonish will be entrusted with overseeing the art program at the 6.2-acre Madison Square Park, which attracts some 60,000 visitors daily.
“As the park’s public art program enters its third decade, we are thrilled to welcome Denise to our team, as someone known for her creativity, collaborative spirit, and commitment to community engagement,” said Holly Leicht, the conservancy’s executive director, in a statement. “As a seasoned curator, she understands artists’ needs and how to integrate their visions into our park and neighborhood. We believe she is the perfect choice for this next chapter in the program’s history.”
While at Mass MoCA, Markonish shepherded commissions, many on a massive scale, from artists including Nick Cave, Teresita Fernandez, Jeffrey Gibson, Trenton Doyle Hancock, and Glenn Kaino. She additionally collaborated with the conservancy to establish downtown North Adams as the permanent home of the forty-foot-high Martin Puryear sculpture Big Bling, which premiered at Madison Square Park in 2016 before subsequently going on display in Philadelphia. Prior to her arrival at Mass MoCA, Markonish spent five years at New Haven contemporary art nonprofit Artspace. Before that, she worked at the Fuller Museum of Art (now the Fuller Craft Museum) in Brockton, Massachusetts, where in 2001 she undertook her first major artist commission, with Mark Dion. She holds a BA from Brandeis University and an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.
“I’ve built my career on doing large-scale commissions,” Markonish told the New York Times. “And to do so now in such a public place and thinking outside the box of the walls of a museum will be an amazing challenge.”