Lincoln Center's Iconic Plaza Will Transform Into ‘Green' Space

The Lincoln Center's iconic Josie Robertson Plaza, which features as its centerpiece the Revson Fountain, will be transformed into an open park-like space with the help of a celebrated set designer.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts announced Tuesday that Mimi Lien, celebrated set designer and MacArthur Genius grantee, has been commissioned to physically reimagine Josie Robertson Plaza as part of Restart Stages, a new initiative announced in February that will create 10 outdoor performance and rehearsal spaces as well as other outdoor civic venues.

The installation, known as "The GREEN," acts as the physical centerpiece of Restart Stages, Lincoln Center’s initiative to help kickstart the arts sector and New York City’s revival through a a collaboration that reimagines and reactivates public space.

“The GREEN” will transform the approximately 14,000 square feet of open, concrete expanse surrounding the Revson Fountain into an environment that invites New Yorkers to relax and enjoy the open, park-like space.

“When invited to consider how the physical space of Josie Robertson Plaza could be re-envisioned to be a more inclusive and inviting environment, I immediately thought that by changing the ground surface from hard paving stones with no seating to a material like grass, suddenly anyone would be able to sit anywhere,” Mimi Lien said in a statement. 

Books will be available for borrowing provided by the nearby New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Additionally, a small snack bar is planned for the northeast corner and pop-up performances will be offered throughout the summer and fall. These performances will include music, dance, and a series of family performances and workshops.

“In the past, Josie Robertson Plaza has been a space that you walk through in order to see a performance, to get to the Library, or even to admire the fountain for a bit, but I dreamt of making it a space of inhabitation, of pleasure, and of rest," Lien went on to say in her statement. "I wanted to make a place where you could lie on a grassy slope and read a book all afternoon.  Get a coffee and sit in the sun. Bring your babies and frolic in the grass.  Have a picnic lunch with coworkers. I hope that this curved grass surface will feel like an embrace and an expanse at the same time, and will reimagine the Plaza as a site of social infrastructure, like a town green – a place to gather, a common ground.”

“The GREEN” will be constructed of recyclable, biobased SYNLawn, providing for a grass-like material that has a high soy content and which is fully sourced from U.S. farmers.

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“The GREEN” will be open May 10 through Sept. 2021, from 9 a.m.to midnight. A variety of safety protocols will be in place, following recommended guidelines including, but not limited to, required face coverings, social distancing and regular cleaning of the space.

"The arts can be the centerpiece of New York's economic, social, and spiritual revival—a powerful vehicle to reconnect as we enter the spring season,” Henry Timms, President & CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to launch ‘The GREEN,’ a space for New Yorkers to re-energize, and find inspiration and uplift. We’re very grateful to Mimi Lien, our partners across Lincoln Center, and everyone across the city helping build this Restart Stages vision.”