Brooklyn Heights ~ An Afternoon at St. Ann's ~ Art

If you're new to my site, this is a Trolley Ride.  My "Trolley Rides" are all about meeting the people which make Brooklyn an incredible place to live, work and play.  These Trolley Rides are an exploration of our fascinating Borough and the wonders in it.

This oasis of pseudo-urban archeology is right behind

St. Ann and the Holy Trinity Church

at Montague Street and Clinton Street.

Around the corner on Pierrepont Street is

Saint Ann's School.

That's where I met with ANGELO BELLFATTO; an Art Instructor there.

My very enlightening conversation with him started when I asked permission to photograph a certain piece he's working on for the purposes of posting the picture here.

This is Titled:  "WORK IN PROGRESS"  ~  clay.

I found this...Fascinating!

Meeting Angelo was like finding a nice cold glass of water in a desert in the sense he helped me quench a thirst.  We talked about my frustrations with being a "closet artist".

What I mean by that is my want of formal training and about what I feel has been my failure to ever really advance myself in that regard.  I'd get laughed off my softball team sharing a long ago dream I had regarding who I wanted to be when I grew up, like the one I shared today with Mr. Bellfatto.  So..., Shhhh.

I never became that person. 

But if you want to know what the Giants have to do in order to win this Sunday

versus the Minnesota Vikings or Lee Mazzilli's batting average in 1979...., I'm your guy.

Someone immediately came to Angelo's mind while we talked;

someone he said who might be very helpful to me.

There's a saying I live by;

Nothing Ventured ~ Nothing Gained.

Mr. Bellfatto, the pleasure meeting you today was all mine.

I hope to hear from you soon and I'm very interested in seeing

"the Finished Piece" one day in the near future.

Thank you and be well.

Mike.BTB

Montague and Court, Jackie Robinson Dedication and Ebbets Field Mural

The Mission Statement ~  It's too easy using readily available pictures of Ebbets Field and the old Brooklyn Dodgers from books and other sites, etc. etc. for purposes of reflection, waxing nostalgic, and driving ourselves crazy.  That's not what I'm doing.  I'm looking for the footprint in the dried up river bed.  I'm cracking slabs of shale, and breaking slate to find what is left behind.  I'm looking for evidence, underneath layers of urban sediment.  I'm looking for the fingerprints of Baseball left upon Brooklyn.

Here in the Borough of Kings, the soul of the Boys of Summer, Dem Bums, Brooklyn's beloved Dodgers still lives on.  Whether we wear our Brooklyn Dodger jersies at a Cyclones game in Coney Island,  paying a toll to drive over the Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, or walk into any sporting goods store in Brooklyn, the essence of the Dodgers is everywhere.  Somewhere there's an old season ticket holder on 18th Avenue wearing his Dodger cap carrying a brown bag of fruit or vegetables as part of a daily routine.  I'm telling you as fact, before the sun goes down on the day, that person would have spent at least a couple of seconds thinking about his/her Bums.

Today the Trolley is pulling up to the corner of Montague Street and Court Street, in Downtown Brooklyn.  On this corner stood the building where the Brooklyn Dodger Baseball Club Offices were.  Their offices were not located within Ebbets Field.  The offices and Ebbets were a short distance from each other within 2 miles or so.

Today there is a bank occupying the location.  Outside, on the front of the building, in 1998 a plaque was dedicated honoring the sight, and the history which took place within it's offices.

Inside the bank itself is a marvelous mural depicting play at Ebbets Field.  If you notice the buildings in the backround behind center field, they are still there on Bedford Avenue.

I hope you enjoyed your ride to the site of the Bum's old offices 

with the BTB.

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