Design Trust for Public Space

08/19/2026

Since 2001, our Photo Urbanism program has offered fellowships to local photographers to document and showcase unique perspectives on the public spaces of NYC. Here are a few highlights from the archive, explore all of our past exhibitions at photourbanism.org.

Our 2026-2027 fellowship app is open until 9/2 at the link in our bio! This cycle, we are looking for photography project proposals that illuminate public spaces as lively venues for arts and culture.

Photo Urbanism is supported, in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts. ❤️ NYSCA NYC Dept of Cultural Affairs

08/05/2026

Calling NYC photographers! The Design Trust for Public Space is now accepting applications for our 2026-2027 Photo Urbanism Fellowship. Since 2001, the program has fostered the creation of new work exploring and documenting the culture of NYC’s public spaces across the five boroughs. The Photo Urbanism fellow receives $10,000 in funding and support to create a solo exhibition, as well as collaborates with our Youth Photography Workshop at the Macaulay Honors College.

This cycle, we are looking for photography project proposals that illuminate public spaces as lively venues for arts and culture, in tandem with our “Untaped” initiative aiming to make it easier for New Yorkers to use their neighborhood commons. We want to document how public spaces come to life with creative programming, markets, live performances, art exhibitions, educational opportunities, and beyond. These stories will advance Untaped’s mission to reimagine NYC with less bureaucratic red-tape and simpler permitting processes.

Learn more about the fellowship and how to apply at the link in our bio! (and on the designtrust.org homepage).

Applications are due Wednesday, September 2, 2026 by 11:59 pm. Visit photourbanism.org to explore our archive of past exhibitions.

08/04/2026

Now in its third year, our New York: City Designed program at Macaulay Honors College is creating new paths to urban planning careers, offering experiential learning, community, and internship placements with some of NYC’s top city agencies, nonprofits, and private-sector design and architecture firms.

Sarah Chacko, a current NYCD intern working with our team at the Design Trust this summer, sat down with three of the program’s alumni to see where they are now and how the opportunity impacted the beginning of their career journeys. Link in our bio to read!

Photos left to right: Sarah, Naia (3x3) Daniel (TenBerke), and Shivani (NYC Department of City Planning)

08/03/2026

Join our team working to unlock the potential of NYC’s public spaces! We’re hiring a part-time Communications and Events Coordinator to support our public programming, community outreach, and content creation. Learn more about the role at apply at the link in our bio or head to designtrust.org/news

Photo: Central Park, 1997, via Wikimedia Commons, photographer LBM1948

07/23/2026

Latest on the public space blog: “With ‘Green Space Connections’ Public Housing Residents Design Their Communities” 🌳🏢

Green Space Connections created four new open outdoor community spaces through participatory design at NYCHA sites in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and just received funding to activate four more.

🔗 Link in our bio to read how this project is empowering resident-led creation of new commons and realizing the potential of public spaces within NYCHA via new partnerships.

📸 Green Space Connections photos by Tameek Williams Teemonee

🤝This project is led by Public Housing Community Fund, in partnership with NYCHA, Center for Justice Innovation, and support from the Design Trust. This work is made possible by a network of local designers, community organizers, and architects, and funding from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. Meet the team in our story link!

07/15/2026

🌿 People make public spaces thrive!

Do you work with a group that cares for parks, gardens, plazas, open streets, schoolyards, waterfronts, greenways, trails, or other public spaces? We want to hear from you!

Take the Public Space Partners Survey to help count, map, and connect stewardship groups across the New York City Region, including the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary.

Put your work on the map! By participating, your group can:
• Help volunteers, agencies, funders, and partners find your work
• Connect with other public space stewards
• Support future planning and investment

The survey takes about 15-30 minutes, and respondents will be entered into a raffle for one of ten $100 gift cards.

Take the survey: https://nyu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9KtNTDNwt1xKRZY (link in our bio)

We are proud to be on the steering committee for this important initiative with a coalition of NYC institutions led by . Thank you to NYU’s Urban System Lab for collecting this vital data in collaboration with colleagues at USFS and UDF.

06/12/2026

Thank you to all who joined us for the Benefit for Public Space last night at the NYPL Stavros Niarchos Foundation library rooftop to support NYC’s public spaces. Congratulations again to our public space leadership honorees who are transforming the city with access to sustainable, affordable, and well-designed housing — SoMA at 25 Water Street and Melrose North.

With your generosity and energy, we surpassed our fundraising goal! Your contributions make our work to turn public space design ideas into action possible.

Last night, we heard from NYCHA Lillian Wald Houses residents about their work on our Opening the Edge project, taking down a fence and creating a new community space that they call “The People’s Park.” Watch a retrospective of the process here and learn more about the residents, artists, designers, and local leaders who advocated for OTE for over a decade, and along the way, transformed thinking around open space in public housing communities, in NYC and nationally

Link in our bio to learn more about the project and its supporters!

06/02/2026

We’ve partnered with the to build new pathways to urban planning careers! Our New York: City Designed program offers students cohort-based summer internships at some of NYC’s top city agencies, nonprofits, and private-sector design and architecture firms, including , , .landmarks, , , and with our team at the Design Trust!

Link in our bio to learn more about the program and meet the 2026 cohort.

04/27/2026

04/22/2026

ICYMI watch a recording of last night’s Reimagining the Enslaved African Burial Ground at Van Cortlandt Park panel with Van Cortlandt Park Alliance and Lehman College, featuring the three teams selected from the project’s Design Ideas Competition to envision memorial and community healing in the Bronx, 🌸 link in our bio!