We know that our 6.2 million annual visitors all engage with the High Line in different ways—daily commute, botanic garden, event space, open air museum—so we built our collections around the different facets of the park. We're breaking down our different collections and how they relate to the park.
High Line Icon collection
The High Line Icon collection takes inspiration from the structure of the park and centers our High Line logomark. The icon is an “H” monogram that also looks like the railroad tracks that run the length of the High Line, originally designed by Paula Scher of Pentagram.
About the High Line: an overview
The High Line is a public park on the West Side of Manhattan operated, maintained, and funded by the nonprofit conservancy Friends of the High Line. Through our work with communities on and off the High Line, Friends of the High Line is devoted to reimagining public spaces to create connected, healthy neighborhoods, and cities.
Built on a historic, elevated rail line, the High Line was always intended to be more than a park. You can walk through the gardens, view art, experience a performance, enjoy food or beverage, or connect with friends and neighbors—all while enjoying a unique perspective of New York City.
Nearly 100% of our annual budget comes through donations. The High Line is owned by the City of New York, and we operate the park under a license agreement with NYC Parks.
Community in the Sky collection
Our Community in the Sky collection features the artwork of illustrator Jiaqi Wang. Jiaqi’s illustration is featured as a 180-foot mural lining the High Line’s 14th Street Passage and features the humans, plants, insects, and birds that bring the High Line and surrounding neighborhoods to life. Take a short walk down the High Line from the Shop's location at 16th Street and see it in person!
Nature in the city
New York City is the most densely populated and heavily developed city in the United States, yet even here, the tenacious spirit of nature persists. Thanks to parks, gardens, and green spaces like the High Line creating a more harmonious balance of natural and man-made environments, native birds, insects, and pollinators can still find important habitats and sustenance. These green spaces also improve the climate resiliency of cities, cool and clean the air, and support humans with the physical and mental health benefits of having access to nature.
As a naturalistic garden maintained through sustainable practices and one that provides many ecological benefits, the High Line demonstrates how cities can creatively achieve that balance. Built upon an elevated rail track, the High Line creates an approximately 1.5-mile corridor of living landscapes and important wildlife habitats—including the cooling canopy of more than 1,340-trees—that weaves through the commercial and residential buildings of Manhattan’s West Side.
Collections inspired by High Line Art
These collections were created in collaboration with the High Line Plinth commission recipient artists. Opened in June 2019, the Plinth is the first space on the High Line—and one of the only sites in New York City—dedicated solely to a rotating series of new, monumental, contemporary art commissions. The Plinth is located on the Spur, on the High Line at 30th Street and 10th Avenue, where a large open space offers sweeping city views and a thriving gathering space for people. Artworks selected for the Plinth become part of the cityscape itself, remaining on display for 18 months.
The Light That Shines Through the Universe collection
The Light That Shines Through the Universe collection features the brass hands from the fifth High Line Plinth commission, inspired by the sixth century Bamiyan Buddhas.
The Light That Shines Through the Universe (2026)
by Tuan Andrew Nguyen
Nguyen presents his Plinth commission as a monument to cultural loss and enduring spirit. The work’s title directly references the affectionate nickname local communities used for the larger of the Bamiyan Buddhas: “Salsal,” which translates to “the light shines through the universe.” The original 6th-century Bamiyan Buddhas of central Afghanistan were tragically destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban in an act of iconoclasm. The work is not an exact replica of Salsal, but rather an echo, intended to invoke the memory of these lost cultural treasures. For The Light That Shines Through the Universe, the artist reimagines the original hands, which were missing after centuries of attacks, long before the Buddhas’ eventual complete destruction. Cast from melted-down brass artillery shells from Afghanistan, each hand is positioned into a mudra, or ritual gesture—on the right, the Abhaya mudra, signifying “fearlessness”, and on the left, the Varada mudra, signifying “compassion.”
Dinosaur collection
Our Dinosaur collection features the famous 21-foot tall “big pigeon” from the fourth High Line Plinth commission. A celebration of the humble, oft-maligned pigeon, Argote’s sculpture garnered a lot of love from New Yorkers and tourists alike.
Dinosaur (2024)
by Iván Argote
Reflecting on the work’s title, Argote notes, “The name Dinosaur makes reference to the sculpture’s scale and to the pigeon’s ancestors who millions of years ago dominated the globe, as we humans do today… the name also serves as a reference to the dinosaur’s extinction. Like them, one day we won’t be around anymore, but perhaps a remnant of humanity will live on—as pigeons do—in the dark corners and gaps of future worlds. I feel this sculpture could generate an uncanny feeling of attraction, seduction, and fear among the inhabitants of New York.”
Wild in the 90s collection
Featuring the photography of Joel Sternfeld, our Wild in the 90s collection focuses on what the High Line looked like as an overgrown, abandoned railway. Before Friends of the High Line, this space was wild. For all those who were wild in the 90s (or who wish they had been!)
Joel Sternfeld & the High Line
Joel Sternfeld’s photographs have come to define the High Line in a way that no one foresaw. In a series of shots taken throughout the seasons, Sternfeld was able to capture both the essence of the space and the possibilities of what it could become. The photographs became an invaluable tool in the struggle to preserve the tracks. They conveyed what architectural renderings could not – a captivatingly lush landscape, an impermeable historic footprint, a public space for wonder and reflection.
The photographs were featured in The New Yorker in 2001 in an article that called Sternfeld “the poet-keeper” of the High Line. Author Adam Gopnik praised his ability to see romance where others saw weeds. The article was a catalyst for Friends of the High Line, ushering in waves of public recognition and support.
Later that year, facing the possible demolition of the tracks, Sternfeld sought every way possible to showcase his photographs in support of the High Line. He coordinated a show at the Pace/McGill gallery and worked with a German art publisher to publish his photographs in a book called Walking the High Line. Nearly 25 years later, his passionate support and artistic talent have helped turn a disused rail track into a beloved New York landmark.
Piet Oudolf Garden Collection
Inspired by legendary Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf, this collection highlights Piet’s planting illustrations and his philosophy on garden design, celebrating the horticulture of the High Line.
About Piet Oudolf & the High Line’s gardens
One of the most pivotal milestones of the High Line’s journey from a derelict railway to a magical garden occurred in 2004, when the world-renowned garden designer, Piet Oudolf, teamed up with landscape architects Field Operations and design studio Diller Scofidio + Renfro to submit a proposal for the park’s design competition. Oudolf’s vision for naturalistic, four-season, perennial gardens captured the spirit and essence of the self-seeded wild landscape that had taken root on the elevated rail track during its years of disuse. Oudolf broke new ground in the field of horticulture with the High Line’s “wild by design” gardens, and continues to provide hands-on counsel today.
Piet Oudolf is a Dutch garden designer, nurseryman, and author. He is a leading figure of the “New Perennial” movement–his designs and plant compositions are known for using bold drifts of herbaceous perennials and grasses, which are chosen for their four-season interest, including flower color and seed structure. Piet Oudolf’s vision and expertise continue to shape the ongoing evolution of the High Line’s landscape.
These collections will grow and shift, but we're always going to create products that tie back into the park and all of the amazing work that's done here. Stop by the High Line Shop in person on the High Line at 16th Street or shop online anytime.
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