New York, January 24, 2020 – New York Road Runners (NYRR), the world’s premier community running organization, has announced a three-year partnership agreement with The FLAG Art Foundation as the presenting sponsor of the NYRR Gridiron 4M. This annual event is held Central Park and features more than 5,000 runners.

“New York Road Runners is proud to have The FLAG Art Foundation as the presenting sponsor of the NYRR Gridiron 4M,” said Michael Capiraso, president and CEO of NYRR. “We’re excited about this partnership that will showcase artists in collaboration with this fun, longstanding annual race.”

As part of the sponsorship, esteemed artist Nicolas Party has created a unique T-shirt for all participants in this year’s NYRR Gridiron 4M on Sunday, February 2.

The Swiss-born artist Party conceived this year’s race T-shirt as an artwork, in which he utilized surreal imagery, humor, and his signature approach to color. The design relates to the artist’s current exhibition Nicolas Party: Pastel at FLAG, located in Manhattan’s Chelsea art district. The exhibition runs through February 15 and is free and open to the public.

“My design for the NYRR Gridiron 4M T-shirt used a range of abstract yet recognizable shapes—a foot, football, a sun, etc.—that I hope runners could interpret as elements they would see along the race route,” said Party. “I wanted to create a dynamic image that has a sense of movement, energy, and playfulness.”

The FLAG Art Foundation was founded in 2008 by Glenn Fuhrman to help bring additional awareness to contemporary art. Fuhrman created the non-profit organization to engage with many talented individuals who would bring art to a new and different viewership. A significant runner himself, Fuhrman participates in many NYRR races throughout the year.

About New York Road Runners (NYRR)

NYRR’s mission is to help and inspire people through running. Since 1958, New York Road Runners has grown from a local running club to the world’s premier community running organization. NYRR’s commitment to New York City’s five boroughs features races, community events, free youth running initiatives and school programs, the NYRR RUNCENTER featuring the New Balance Run Hub, and training resources that provide hundreds of thousands of people each year, from children to seniors, with the motivation, know-how, and opportunity to Run for Life. NYRR’s premier event, and the largest marathon in the world, is the TCS New York City Marathon. Held annually on the first Sunday in November, the race features 50,000 runners, from the world’s top professional athletes to a vast range of competitive, recreational, and charity runners.  To learn more, visit www.nyrr.org.

About The FLAG Art Foundation

The FLAG Art Foundation, founded in 2008 by art patron Glenn Fuhrman, is a non-profit contemporary art institution that encourages the appreciation of contemporary art among a diverse audience. FLAG presents four to six exhibitions a year that include artworks by international established and emerging artists, borrowed from a variety of sources. FLAG invites a broad range of creative individuals to curate exhibitions and works in-depth with artists to provide curatorial support and a platform to realize their own solo exhibitions.

FLAG’s innovative approach to foster dialogue around contemporary art includes producing artist talks, artist-led workshops, and exhibition tours for school and museum groups. Based in the heart of Manhattan’s Chelsea art district, FLAG and all of its related program are free and open to the public.

FLAG also facilitates loans of contemporary artworks to museum and galleries around the world, with an extensive database of works maintained and available to curators.