New York’s Park Avenue has long served as an open-air gallery for monumental sculpture, but this spring the storied boulevard welcomed something more organic, immersive, and quietly poetic. Talisman: A Sacred Grove, a new installation by Michele Oka Doner, has appeared on the Park Avenue Mall opposite the historic Armory, transforming a section of Manhattan into a living landscape inspired by myth, memory, and the city’s natural past.
An Evening at the Armory
The work was unveiled on March 9 with an intimate gathering inside the Armory attended by nearly 150 guests, hosted by philanthropists Elihu Rose and Barbara Tober. The evening began with a conversation between Michele Oka Doner, Micky Wolfson, founder of The Wolfsonian Museum, and Pulitzer Prize–winning author Kai Bird, offering insight into the vision behind the installation.
“I wanted to bring back the primeval forest that used to exist here in New York,” Oka Doner explained. “It’s an organic thing. It’s alive, and it will change, as the city does.”
Wolfson reflected on the artist’s distinctive creative language. “Michele Oka Doner’s objects demand participation and dialogue,” he said. “These talismans form a new kind of language through her work, one that reflects the deeply intimate nature of her creations.”
Champagne and Celebration in the Tiffany Room
Following the discussion, guests moved into the Armory’s ornate Tiffany Room for a celebratory reception. Champagne flowed as attendees gathered around towering seafood displays prepared by restaurateur Keith McNally, founder of the iconic New York brasserie Balthazar and a longtime friend of the artist.
Among those in attendance were Oka Doner’s sons Jordan Doner and Jeremy Doner, along with her husband Fred Doner, who welcomed a distinguished group of guests from the worlds of art, fashion, and philanthropy.
The evening’s attendees included HRH Prince Sultan bin Fahad bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz and Princess Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, Paola Antonelli, Carrie Rebora Barratt, Laurie Beckelman, Cora Cahan, Amy Cappellazzo, Kyle DeWoody, Layla Diba, Tiffany Dubin, Jane Farhi, James Barron, Joanna Fisher, Anthony Haden-Guest, Rachel Hovnanian, Yue-Sai Kan, Alan Pollack, Harold Koda, Alan Kornberg, Irina and Andres Serrano, Betsy Sussler, and Ruben Toledo.
A Living Installation Rooted in Myth
Commissioned by The Sculpture Committee of The Fund for Park Avenue, the project received additional support from The Lionheart Foundation, The New York Foundation for the Arts, and Barbara Tober’s Acronym Fund.
Installed along the Park Avenue Mall, Talisman: A Sacred Grove blends art with living ecology. The installation features twenty-five trees native to Manhattan, sourced from Long Island and Upstate New York, arranged on a raised landscaped platform planted with shrubs and foliage. Suspended among the branches are dozens of talismans inspired by folklore and mythic forms.
Each talisman measures between five inches and a foot and a half and is handcrafted from pulp and other organic materials. After dusk, fiber-optic lighting gently illuminates the objects, allowing the work to take on a different presence at night.
Art That Evolves With the Seasons
Over the course of nine months, the installation will evolve naturally as the vegetation grows and changes, echoing the organic rhythms that inspired the work. The project will remain on view through November.
Bringing the grove to life required four days of installation, cranes, and a team of ten workers. A dedicated “water nanny” will care for the trees throughout the exhibition, ensuring the living components remain healthy as the seasons shift.
In a city defined by steel and concrete, Oka Doner’s grove offers a quiet reminder of a much older landscape that once existed beneath Manhattan’s streets. Through mythic symbols and living trees, Talisman: A Sacred Grove reconnects the modern city with its deeper natural memory.
