Interview with Friends of the High Line Co-founder Robert Hammond

Joel Sternfeld, a great American photographer, took what’s now a very famous series of photos of the High Line in all seasons, back in 2001. His photos quickly became our most important asset, people had never seen the top of the High Line, but here were those beautiful images of this mysterious found urban landscape, so different and hidden from the streets below. When people saw Joel’s photos, they understood what was so special about the High Line.

We’ve worked with a lot of artists since, and it’s great to see how each project draws on a different aspect of the High Line. We incorporate art into our education program at the Lab School in Chelsea — they’re planning a major High Line-related public art program in the Spring. We’ve held a lot of art auctions and gallery tours as fundraisers and free community events. And we’re working with Creative Time on an installation by Spencer Finch for the High Line, the first of a series of temporary art installations in the Chelsea Market loading dock area.

Basically, I think having creative people around all the time keeps the High Line inspiring.

PSFK: What is inspiring you at the moment, with the High Line and otherwise?

Right now we’re working on a couple of fun and necessary projects I’ve wanted to tackle for a long time. We’re revamping the High Line website so it can be used for people actually planning to visit the park. We want it to be interactive and informative with a lot of images and video, as well as all the information we have on there. All the major parks and attractions in the city have websites, and we’re looking at what works and what doesn’t. It’s very inspiring to me because it’s such a tangible example of how close we are to opening the park. We’re really down to the nuts and bolts.

Another web project I’m excited about is our Rail Yards Blog. We’ve been doing advocacy around saving the High Line at the West Side Rail Yards (where a third of the structure might still be torn down.) There was really no main place for information about the Rail Yards development, and it’s the largest development project in Manhattan right now, twice the size of Ground Zero. Friends of the High Line started on a grassroots level, and the Rail Yards Blog is another kind of grassroots tool to keep our community informed about this important planning project that will drastically change the West Side. You can check it out at www.railyardsblog.wordpress.com. In this year leading up to the High Line’s opening, I’m just trying to slow down and enjoy all the work we’re doing. It can get overwhelming at times, but I’m trying to think of it as a reward. At the beginning we never in a million years thought we would be at this point today. Just stopping all the frenzy for a minute and having that thought is inspiring to me.

Friends Of The High Line