P’Park installation addresses
city’s drinking watershed
BY CRAIG HUBERT
The subject of Brooklynbased
artist Mary Mattingly’s
latest sculpture, “Public Water,”
currently on view at the
Grand Army Plaza entrance to
Prospect Park, has long been a
topic of interest and source of
inspiration in her work.
“Due to heavy use of agricultural
chemicals like DDT
well into the 1980s, I grew up
without clean drinking water
in a rural community not far
from New York City and some
of the fi rst sculptures I made
were systems that cleaned
water,” Mattingly said in an
email about her interest in issues
around water access and
clean water scarcity.
When she moved to Brooklyn
in 2001, she became interested
in the city’s drinking
watershed, which eventually
led to her latest work.
“Public Water” — presented
by public art nonprofi t More
Art in conjunction with Prospect
Park Alliance, New York
City Department of Parks and
Recreation and the Brooklyn
Public Library — consists of a
10-foot tall geodesic dome that
is fi lled with native plants that
fi lter water in ways that mimic
the city’s watershed (a version
of the sculpture was fi rst presented
COURIER L 44 IFE, JUNE 25-JULY 1, 2021
at the Brooklyn Public
Library in early 2020).
The project follows More
Art’s “A Year of Public Water,”
a website that details the history
of New York City’s drinking
watershed.
“Fresh water scarcity is affecting
people across the country,
and access to clean drinking
water is increasingly
challenging,” Mattingly said.
“New York City’s drinking
water history is enormous:
it’s geologic, political and immensely
tragic. It’s currently
the largest unfi ltered water
supply in the United States.”
Mattingly, who has exhibited
at Storm King, the International
Center of Photography,
the Seoul Art Center and
the Brooklyn Museum (where
she was an artist in residence),
Artist Mary Mattingly standing in front of her sculpture. Photo by Manuel Molina Martagon, courtesy of More Art
among many other venues, often
focuses her work on ecological
issues. In 2016 she created
“Swale,” a fl oating garden that
docks at piers around the city
and allows visitors to forge for
free fresh food.
When Mattingly discovered
that Prospect Park is now
connected to the city’s public
water infrastructure (it used
to use groundwater pumped
from a well), it became a natural
setting for the project.
“Prospect Park’s watercourse
is a microcosm of New
York City’s drinking watershed,”
she said. “From streams
to ponds and waterfalls, the
park’s water infrastructure
was designed to mimic natural
ecosystem functions of a
watershed.”
Mattingly has also created
a self-guided walking tour to
go along with the sculpture
that coincides with the launch
of ecoWEIR, a natural fi ltration
pilot project in the park.
Ultimately, Mattingly
hopes the project will inspire
further action on the part of
the visitor — not just the problem
but how we can become
part of the solution.
“I’m eager to share the
strengths of a water system
that almost nine million people
depend on everyday, what steps
it has taken to begin to be more
equitable and what we can do to
help steward it,” she said.
BY DEAN MOSES
New Yorkers were treated
to an explosion of colors over
the city skyline just after dusk
on June 15, which offi cially
marked the removal of all restrictions
put in place to prevent
the spread of COVID-19.
From the Brooklyn Bridge
and Battery Park to the Brooklyn
Heights Promenade, residents
of the Big Apple gathered
to catch dazzling lights
at the end of the 16-month tunnel.
Shooting into the darkened
sky from the New York
harbor at 9:15 p.m., the vivid
display not only served as a
ceremonial send-off to the
coronavirus precautions now
that 70 percent of New Yorkers
aged 18 or older have received
at least one dose of a COVID-19
vaccine, according to the Governor,
but it also was a symbol
of gratitude lighting up the
sky with a radiant thank you
to healthcare workers who
have been on the frontlines
throughout the pandemic.
As onlookers held each
other, some kissing in celebration,
others raising their
phones to record the spectacle
while smiling ear to ear, the
feeling of relief and joy was
very much abundant at the
Brooklyn Heights Promenade.
“For the day that COVID
offi cially ends, they should do
something like this every year
to mark of the end of the pandemic,”
fi fth-grader Gabriel
Kocisoea said.
His mother, Maria, was
near tears as she described
the wave of emotions she felt
watching the display, remembering
over a year of fear, fatigue,
and now, a bit of relief.
She vividly recalls hearing
the constant fl ow of ambulance
trucks in March, April,
and May, and then the eerily
empty streets and the worrying
about public transportation
during the height of the
virus.
“We are back alive,” Maria
said, adding, “When I heard
the people cheering and the
cars honking, it was really, really
nice. I almost cried, and
when I saw Gabriel in front of
me watching the fi reworks, I
was holding tears back. As a
mother, it is really emotional
because we did our best.”
Lindsay Goldthwatie embraced
her son with her husband
as the trio marveled at
the red, green, yellow, and
blue hues shining in the sky.
Her son, Max, pointed with
glee exclaiming “wow” while
Goldthwatie smiled.
“I think this was great.
I feel it’s a great way to say
New York is back. I got kind
of emotional through all we
went through in the past year
and half or so. So, it was nice,”
Goldthwatie said.
While the display did
not bring in the same July
Fourth crowds, it did bring
about a feel of independence
from fear and from COVID-19.
The New York Harbor fi reworks
display was one of ten
sites across New York State
to host the grand affair. Additionally,
landmarks were lit in
blue and gold to salute the 70
percent milestone.
Water world
State lift s COVID limits with a bang
BROOKLYN
Seeing the lights
Brooklynites gathered to watch the display on the Brooklyn Heights
Promenade. Photo by Dean Moses