Robert Rauschenberg Foundation
05/27/2026
In spring 2003, the Central Park Conservancy (CPC) inaugurated a months-long celebration of Central Park’s 150th anniversary, filled with musical performances, a film festival, walking tours, educational programming, and other special events. To benefit the Park, the commemorated the anniversary in style by producing their first-ever “artist-designed” T-shirt. The designer? None other than .
Though New York was not Rauschenberg’s primary residence after 1970, he maintained a close emotional and professional connection to the city, and his NoHo townhome was a locus of curatorial, creative, and social activity. Indeed, images of Central Park figure among some of Rauschenberg’s most beloved early 1950s photographs. For the anniversary T-shirt, he sent his friend, photographer Ed Chappell, uptown to take additional photos which he used as source imagery for the design: a black-and-white collage of screenprinted images on the front, back, and long sleeves.
The CPC’s pitch fundamentally aligned with Rauschenberg’s deep commitment to inclusivity: “Central Park represents the most democratic principles we live by, providing beauty and respite, in addition to recreation, to all people, of all ages and backgrounds. Everybody is welcome, the Park belongs to all. … What is more ubiquitous than the Tee shirt?”
Images 1 and 2: Front and back of Central Park T-shirt, design by Robert Rauschenberg, 2003
Image 3: Source material for “Central Park T-shirt” (2003), ca. 2003. Photo: Unattributed
Image 5: Robert Rauschenberg, “Susan—Central Park N.Y.C. (II)”, 1951
Image 6: Stand with T-shirts and other merchandise celebrating the 150th anniversary of Central Park, Bethesda Terrace, New York, 2003. Photo: Unattributed. Courtesy of the Central Park Conservancy
Last week, caught up with actor and artist to discuss his favorite artwork, Rauschenberg’s “Erased de Kooning Drawing” from 1953. Dillon, whose first solo exhibition is on view at in New York through this Saturday, describes his admiration for the collaborative nature of this work and how it resonates with his own practice, both onscreen and as a visual artist.
Video by for ; Matt Dillon artwork images courtesy of .
In advance of Monday evening’s “Pelican Gala” benefiting , we hear from the dancers involved in reimagining Rauschenberg’s first choreographic work while in residence at his Captiva studio: New York City Ballet soloist Ashley Hod, former Merce Cunningham dancers Rashaun Mitchell and Silas Riener, and former Trisha Brown dancer Tara Lorenzen.
Don’t miss this special event on Monday evening at Xanadu Roller Arts in Brooklyn! Tickets remain available at trishabrowncompany.org.
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