Sheephead Bay: Then and Now.
Brooklyn, NY
The Bay Improvement Group (BIG), a non-profit, community based cultural and planning organization, in partnership with the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA), proposes to develop and mount a public history exhibition on Brooklyn, New York's Sheepshead Bay neighborhood entitled "Sheepshead Bay Then and Now." It will be permanently installed at the local Sheepshead Bay subway station on the MTA's "D" and "Q" line. At this stop, which is used daily by over 8,000 passengers, BIG will develop 12 exhibit panels, to be installed on six 7' x 9' freestanding, two-sided windscreens. Each panel will contain a short accessible text and feature eye-catching illustrations relating the history of Sheepshead Bay, its peoples, and its landmarks. The text and images has been cooperatively developed in preliminary drafts by BIG's voluntary staff, The Cooper Union Center for Design and Typography, consulting historians and members of the Sheepshead Bay Community.
Sponsoring Organization: Bay Improvement Group (BIG)
Co-Directors of the Windscreen Project: Robert Cohen, AIA and Edith Garshman
BIG's project will not only enhance the ambiance of the subway stop with its attractive porcelain windscreens, but will provide a permanent exhibition of educational value. It will advance the historical knowledge of both local residents and tourists who pass through the Sheepshead Bay stop and will motivate them to use this information to preserve and help determine the future direction of New York City's last viable fishing community, designated: as a special waterfront district. Meanwhile, the windscreens will provide viewers with an incentive to go fishing and utilize waterfront amenities.