The Friends of Astoria Heights Park is pleased to support the installation of artwork by local artist Penelope Eleni. The piece will be on view starting May 2015 and is titled “Halloween Harvest Festival”

Penelope Eleni lives and maintains an artist studio in Astoria NY. She is a mother of three young children (an older son and twin girls). Moreover, she is a former professor of art and former elementary school art teacher.

Penelope preparing for installation at Astoria Heights Park

She received a bachelor’s of arts in history from Rutgers University; a bachelor’s of fine arts in ceramics from The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University; and a master’s of fine arts in ceramics from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Moreover, she has studied ceramic art internationally in Mexico, South Korea and Greece.

Penelope Eleni’s inspiration is motherhood and subject matter is exploration, adventure, and the wonder of wandering New York City with three little children.

In 2014, Penelope Eleni won a grant from the Queens Council on the Arts to create a public ceramic tile installation. She donated the completed artwork to the Friends of Astoria Heights Park in Queens NY.

Titled “Halloween Harvest Festival”, it will be exhibited in Astoria Heights Park. It is one of her many poems/stories and is about an outing to Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens NY.

Penelope Eleni’s mission is to create narrative artwork that communicates with children and instructs joyful lessons about: poetry, New York City, and certainly art.

This installaiton is made possible by The NYC Parks Department and Queens Council of the Arts.

Penelope Eleni with NYC Parks Dept Commissioner Dorothy Lewindowski and Deputy Commissioner, Liam Kavanaugh