About Us

In February 2017, a group of seven neighbors joined together to make a difference in their neighborhood. They formed the Navy Yard Garden Association, an independent volunteer organization focused on restoring waterfront gardens within the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston. The group set a goal to revitalize two gardens in the Navy Yard by June 17, 2017, a date by when the City of Boston, including the Charlestown Navy Yard, would host Tall Ships participating in SailBoston 2017.

The group envisioned beautiful gardens by the harbor for visitors and neighbors to enjoy as they arrived to celebrate and participate in the weeklong international sailing event. Located near Piers 4 and 6, the two gardens were chosen due to their proximity to the harbor and their poor condition. The two beds total 2,400 square feet of dirt, rocks and tired planting, an area equal to 55 king-sized mattresses that created a massively lackluster first impression for thousands of tourists, ship crews and TV cameras arriving in the Charlestown Navy Yard.

Through a letter-writing campaign, neighbors, local businesses, and community organizations contributed to fully fund new gardens. By early June 2017, drip hoses, fertilizer, new soil, mulch, and 318 seaside grasses, perennials and shrubs were purchased and installed. The gardens were ready to welcome visitors in the summer of 2017 and for years to come.

To further revitalize and enhance public open spaces, NYGA cultivated and brought public art into the Navy Yard. The first public art exhibit in 2018, The Big Dog Show, by artist Dale Rogers, was an immediate success with 16 ten-foot high Corten steel dogs appearing for three short months along the harborwalk.  Two years later, the WOW Wind on Water exhibit, with 32 wind sculptures by sculptor and artist Lyman Whitaker, graced the harborwalk. The exhibit was an outdoor, family-friendly activity available to the public during the first two years of COVID 19 pandemic restrictions.  In 2022, with grant funding from the Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund, Navy Yard Night Sky, a programmable light installation, was dedicated and is permanently installed in the Shipyard Park Amphitheater. Also that year a 20-sculpture installation by Michael Alfano, Of Many Minds, was created.

To better represent the expanding focus of the organization, the Board voted to update the name of the nonprofit to Navy Yard Garden & Art, Inc. in February 2022.