Council Candidate Craig Hammerman Envisions Park Slope Arts Center to Rival P.S. 1

Democratic City Council Candidate Craig Hammerman announced today his plan to bring Brooklyn artists and residents together by creating a mixed-use arts and learning center in Park Slope.

Hammerman’s plan envisions revitalizing the St. Thomas Aquinas School at 4th Avenue and 8th Street, which was closed down in June 2005, as the Aquinas Arts Center, much in the same vein that Long Island City’s P.S. 1 was turned into one of Queens’ hottest attractions and best loved museums.

“The future prosperity of our neighborhoods depends in large part upon supporting the cultural soul of our community,” said Hammerman, who in addition to running for Council in the 39th District, is also the longtime district manager of Community Board 6. “This area needs a non-profit contemporary community arts center that pulls together and showcases the finest our neighborhoods have to offer.”

With an emphasis upon showing the work of Brooklyn artists, the Aquinas Arts Center would enable community residents to discover the extraordinary breadth and diversity of talents exhibited by their neighbors. At the same time, it would continue the proud academic tradition of the former St. Thomas Aquinas School by offering a plethora of arts classes to Brooklynites of all ages.

In unveiling his plan, Hammerman recognized the wonderful and eclectic contribution to the community made by Park Slope cultural beacons like the Brooklyn-Queens Conservatory of Music, Southpaw, and the Brooklyn Lyceum, and he celebrated local artists for their initiative in banding together to create their successful Annual Gowanus Artists Studio Tour (AGAST). Hammerman promised that the Aquinas Arts Center would only enhance the area’s growing cultural community by offering a centerpiece around which artists and art lovers could thrive.

“Since P.S. 1 reopened in 1997, it has become more than a world-renowned tourist destination, it has drawn remarkable artists of all media to live and work in Long Island City,” said Hammerman. “The Aquinas Arts Center will bring the artistic excellence of our community to the world, while bringing the finest artists in the world to our community.”

Hammerman promised that finding the funding to build the Aquinas Arts Center would be a priority of his first term in the City Council. Citing a report from the Center for an Urban Future, Hammerman pointed out that the lack of affordable studio space, which the Aquinas Arts Center would provide free to Brooklynites, is the greatest impediment to the growth and success of New York City’s 150,000 artists.

Hammerman countered the suggestion that the Aquinas Arts Center would be an unnecessary expense by asserting that the Aquinas Arts Center would be a boon to the local economy. “Despite all other economic trends, the creative economy is growing in Brooklyn,” explained Hammerman. “City government has foolishly put all its eggs in the Wall Street and real estate baskets. We must diversify our local economy to insulate ourselves from the volatility of the markets. That means supporting the creative economy and doing a better job at supporting our small, locally-owned commercial businesses and manufacturing industries too.”

The Aquinas Arts Center, which Hammerman hopes to begin constructing as early as 2010, would be conveniently located on the cusp of Park Slope and Gowanus and easily accessible by both the F, N, and R subway lines and the B75, B77, B37, and B63 bus lines.

Craig Hammerman is running to represent Brooklyn’s 39th Council District, which encompasses Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Columbia Street, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, and Boro Park.

Tour Artist Studios FREE This Weekend

The 12th Annual Gowanus Artists Studios Tour (A.G.A.S.T.) runs this weekend from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. This free event is open to the public and presents Brooklynites with an excellent opportunity to peer into the imaginations of their most creative neighbors.

Among the artists whose works will be on display is my fellow blogger and Brooklyn painter Michael Sorgatz (his work is pictured above). His studio is one of many at the collaborative Brooklyn Artist's Gym (BAG) at 168 7th St. between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

If painting is not your thing, A.G.A.S.T. promises many other artists of all media who will be personally presenting their creations in their intimate work environments. The studios span the Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Boerum Hill neighborhoods. For a complete tour map and directions, click here.

Colbert Report Slams Six-Year-Old Park Slope "Graffiti Punk"

Nothing gets by Stephen Colbert. Just look how he takes six-year-old Park Slope resident Natalie Shea to task for writing in chalk on the sidewalk in front of her house.

Park Slope "Book Nerd" Blogger Wins Library Prize

Congratulations to Jessica Stockton-Bagnulo of Park Slope on winning the Brooklyn Public Library's 4th Annual Power Up! business-plan competition. Devotees of Brooklyn blogs may recognize Stockton-Bagnulo as the literary lion behind The Written Nerd, the self-proclaimed "confessions of an independent bookseller and unrepentant book nerd".

As the top prize winner in the competition, Stockton-Bagnulo will receive $15,000 toward starting her dream business: an independent bookstore. She's now looking for investors to join her as she scouts Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace, and Clinton Hill for possible locations. Any takers? It's more than a worthy cause. We need more independent bookstores in our borough.

A complete list of the competition's winners and more information on Power Up! is available here.

Typographer Discovers Brooklyn's Letter Perfect

Over the last year, typographer Paul Shaw took a wonderful walking tour crisscrossing Brooklyn's neighborhoods from Williamsburg to Bensonhurst in search of the letters that spell out our daily lives. In so doing, he has unearthed an aesthetic bounty of fonts that reflect in their diversity the history, eccentricity, wit, and wisdom of our borough.

Often his study illuminates the artistry of a building or storefront that has unjustly lost its luster simply because it has grown familiar to us - as I experienced when I came across the letters that form La Taqueria (my beloved Mexican eatery at 72 7th Ave.) in Shaw's section on Park Slope. It is this quality that makes Shaw's article from AIGA's Journal of Design delightful reading for all Brooklynites, even those who ordinarily wouldn't think to marvel at typefaces.

Shaw's article is available here, along with a treasure trove of photographs illustrating his striking observations.

More Hopefuls Crowd DeBlasio's Council Seat

The Brooklyn Paper reports today that two more candidates have jumped into the 2009 race to replace term-limited Councilman Bill DeBlasio. Lawyer and local blogger Gary Reilly, 33, and Bob Zuckerman, 47, executive director of the Gowanus Canal Community Development Corporation, join Brad Lander, Josh Skaller, and Craig Hammerman, the three candidates who had previously announced their intentions to run for the Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens seat.

Neither Reilly, nor Zuckerman have previously run for office, though both are involved in local activism to some degree. Zuckerman is a member of Community Board 6 (CB6) and was recently nominated to become president of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats (IND) political club. Reilly, the youngest candidate in the (currently) five-man field, is a member of the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association. Zuckerman has not yet filed the official paperwork necessary to become a candidate and be eligible for City matching funds. Reilly reports on his blog Brooklyn Streets, Carroll Gardens that he has filed, but not yet begun raising money.

According to the Paper, of the three candidates already in the race, Brad Lander, the director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, has raised the most money to date with $63,015. Josh Skaller, president of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID), is second with $30,234. CB6 district manager Craig Hammerman has not yet filed with the Board of Elections.