Courier-Life Publications - News & Features

February 24, 2007

New gateway For borough - Sculpture to mark entrance to Brooklyn

By Stephen Witt

The Daniel Chester French sculpture representing the borough

in front of the Brooklyn Museum.

The artist for the sculpture to serve as the Gateway to Brooklyn has

been tentatively selected, this newspaper has learned.

Williamsburg-based sculptor Brian Tolle was picked from a short list

of six artists through a selection process.

His winning sculpture idea, subject to revision, consists of a

translucent piece based on the Daniel Chester French sculptures that

once graced both sides of the Brooklyn end of the Manhattan Bridge,

according to Community Board 2 District Manager Rob Perris.

Chester French is most famous for doing the seated Lincoln sculpture

at the Lincoln memorial in Washington DC.

Perris was on the sculpture selection panel in an advisory capacity.

The original Chester French granite sculptures have since been moved

and now flank the entrance to the Brooklyn Museum.

The sculptures feature two female figures – one representing

Brooklyn and the other Manhattan – with allegorical features at

their feet.

The allegorical features at the feet of the figure representing

Brooklyn include a young boy reading, a church and a lyre.

Perris said the translucent casts of the figures would be mounted on

the ends of two arms, which are on the end of a pole, and will

rotate and light up at night.

The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA), which spearheaded

the selection process said the Gateway sculpture project went

through the standard public process that all Percent for Art

projects undergo.

Approximately 35-40 artists were selected for consideration for the

project, and presented to a panel for review. The selection panel is

comprised of voting and advisory members.

Voting members included representatives from DCA, the Department of

Transportation, City Planning and the Economic Development

Corporation as well as 3 outside art professionals.

Advisory panel members included the MetroTech BID, the Downtown

Business Partnership, the Art Commission, members of the CB 2, a

representative from councilmember’s David Yassky’s office and a

representative from the Borough President’s office.

Perris said he did not know how much Tolle will make for the

commission, but noted the entire sculpture project was budgeted for

$300,000.

Tolle was born in 1964 in Queens, and currently lives and works in

Williamsburg. He attended Parsons School of Design, New York and

SUNY at Albany, and received his MFA from Yale University School of

Art.

Among his more well-known works is the Irish Hunger Memorial (2002),

located at Vecsey Street in Battery Park City.

The memorial simulates a rural Irish landscape by means of a sloping

grassy expanse and an abandoned cottage.

Tolle refused comment and an assistant at his gallery said he is

unable to speak about the commission for now.

The gateway to Brooklyn sculpture is part of the city’s plan in

conjunction with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s (DBP) to form a

grand entrance into Brooklyn along the Flatbush corridor from

Tillary Street going south to Hanson Place.

As such the DBP also hired the Brooklyn-based Donna Walcavage firm

to design the streetscape.

Preliminary designs call for a wide four-block median strip for the

thoroughfare, on which the sculpture will be placed at Tillary

Street, and will include trees and other plantings going south.

The streetscape will also see the sidewalks widened and some parking

eliminated.