Installation by Jean Shin
Opening Spring 2026
Offering honors trees that have lived and died at Green-Wood. Inspired by Korean tumuli burial mounds, artist Jean Shin transforms fallen trunks, branches, and leaves gathered across the Cemetery into a living memorial and public artwork.
The memorial participates in nature’s regenerative cycle. In spring 2026, native wildflowers will be planted on top. As the material beneath decomposes, it will enrich the soil and nourish the wildflowers above, bringing new life from what was lost. Underground, this process supports insects and microbes. Above ground, wildflowers provide habitat for birds and pollinators.
At Green-Wood, where we honor lives past and present, Offering extends that same respect to our trees.
Offering is curated by Harry J. Weil, Green-Wood’s Vice President of Education and Public Programs. This installation is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, with support from the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
About the Artist
Jean Shin is known for her sprawling and often public sculptures, transforming accumulations of discarded objects into powerful monuments that interrogate our complex relationship between material consumption, collective identity, and community engagement. Often working cooperatively within a community, Shin amasses vast collections of everyday objects—Mountain Dew bottles, mobile phones, 35mm slides—while researching their history of use, circulation, and environmental impact. Distinguished by this labor-intensive and participatory process, Shin’s creations become catalysts for communities to confront social and ecological challenges.
Born in Seoul, South Korea, and raised in the U.S., Shin works in Brooklyn and Hudson Valley, New York. Her work has been widely exhibited and collected in over 150 major museums and cultural institutions, including solo exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, where in 2020 she was the first Korean American woman artist featured in a solo exhibition. Shin has received numerous awards, including the Frederic Church Award for her contributions to American art and culture. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and Sculpture Magazine, among others.
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Between Endings and Beginnings: A Ritual at Jean Shin’s Offering
Join us for the inauguration of Jean Shin's Offering, a site-specific installation in Green-Wood's entrance meadow. Inspired by Korean tumuli burial mounds, Offering honors trees that have lived and died at the Cemetery, transforming fallen trunks, branches, and leaves into a living memorial. As these natural materials decompose, they will nourish the soil and fuel ... Read more
Green-Wood’s public programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, as well as the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.