Brooklyn's Progress
June 2003

Borough President Marty Markowitz, together with the Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition, announced recently which Brooklyn artist best represented the Spirit of Brooklyn.  Artists from throughout Brooklyn participated in the borough-wide Spirit of Brooklyn poster contest, including photographers, graphic artists, painters and computer artists.

The judges selected Philomena Marano's paper-cut composite image of Brooklyn scenes as the winning entry.   Marano's Brooklyn is bright with color and includes such landmarks as the parachute jump and the Brooklyn Bridge interspersed with musicians and dancers.  Balloons festively fly across the urban landscape.  The winner received a $1,000 gift certificate courtesy Artist and Craftsmen Supply located at 211 North 8th Street in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn.   

"There is no more creative place on the planet than Brooklyn.  From film and fashion to painters and photographers, our borough is loaded with unbelievably talented artists from Williamsburg to Brighton Beach and all points in between," Borough President Markowitz said.  "The judges had a very difficult job because it is impossible to capture everything Brooklyn in one piece of work, but they selected a stunning image that certainly represents the Spirit of Brooklyn.  Bravo Philomena Marano and everyone else who created these beautiful works of art!"
 
The artworks, which will be on display in the Community Room Gallery, were selected by a team of judges as best representing the theme "Spirit of Brooklyn."  The judges were artist and designer Mark Ravitz; Audrey Anastasi, President, Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition; Marilyn Kushner, Chair, Curators, Prints and Drawings, Brooklyn Museum of Art; Professor Joseph Roberts, chair, undergraduate Communications Design Department at Pratt Institute; Matt Jeans graphic designer for Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.  The submissions demonstrated the wide range of feelings and images about Brooklyn that evoke its communities, spirit and diversity.  From the Brooklyn Bridge to the Cyclones playing in Coney Island, Brooklyn is rich with symbols of its past and present.

The judges also selected submissions to be included in the exhibition at Brooklyn Borough Hall by Spencer A. Burnett, Tom Callan, Glen Fuenmayor, Adam Gould, Thomas Hagan, Robert Jackson, Michelle Krauss, Murray Melnick, Letitia Plate, Barbara Shea and Answerd Stewart.

By Office of the President of the Borough of Brooklyn