COURIER LIFE, MAY 22-28, 2020 23
OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
BY JESSICA PARKS
A southern Brooklyn artist is beautifying
the windows of businesses in
her neighborhood to help build a sense
of community during the days of social
distancing and quarantine.
“What better time than ever to put
up inspirational words thanking essential
workers and putting up art for
people to just be able to pass by and
make them feel better about their everyday
current, abnormal lives we are
in,” said Alicia Degener, a Bay Ridge
resident whose artwork has often paid
homage to the borough, and the neighborhood,
in which she lives.
Her window paintings are no different,
and feature mostly local landmarks,
like the Verrazzano-Narrows
Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, with
messages of hope and wisdom.
For her fi rst installment, Degener
painted the windows of Bubbles and
Suds Laundromat on Fifth Avenue.
“I wanted to bring a sense of community,”
said Degener, who started
the project at the local laundromat,
but has a waiting list of about ten more
neighborhood businesses who want
their own window piece. She’s since
enlisted the help of friends.
“We have a long list of other businesses
on Fifth Avenue that I will have
my artist local Bay Ridge friends come
do it,” Degener said. “We are happy to
share a sense of community and not to
feel so down.”
The urban landscape artist said the
idea came to her after her daily posts
to a Bay Ridge Facebook page began
getting some traction.
“When we went into the shelter-inplace
situation here in New York City,
I had the idea to start posting my artwork
of Bay Ridge to a Bay Ridge Facebook
site,” Degener said. “Some of
the comments people put are just really
wonderful, it made me feel better
myself.”
The project has been keeping her
busy through the pandemic, she said,
but she’s also noticed that more people
are purchasing artwork from her online
shop as they consume artwork to
help cheer them up.
“Everybody is home and they want
things to make them feel happy so they
are ordering tons of Bay Ridge art and
things like that so I am busier than
ever,” Degener said, stressing that
she’d give it all up “to go back to normal
life.”
Degener’s window project has been
partially funded by the Fifth Avenue
Business Improvement District, who
pitched in for the artist’s supplies.
Bay Ridge artist spends pandemic
painting nabe’s window displays
GIVE ‘EM LIBERTY: Artist Alicia Degener with her inspiring window art at the Bubble and
Suds Laundromat on Fifth Avenue. Photo courtesy of Alicia Degener
Glass gallery