Budding sculptors at Prospect Park received tips from the top when the man who created the bronze statue of “Peter and Willie” at Imagination Playground stopped by the recreational space to help them mold their masterpieces.
Prominent Brooklyn sculptor and artist Otto Neals, whose whimsical sculpture is based on the characters in Ezra Jack Keats’ book, Peter’s Chair, made the appearance as part of the Prospect Lefferts Gardens Arts’ group show, which also featured a production of “Daydream,” a children’s version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
The charismatic Neals, a printmaker and stone and wood carver, engaged a rapt crowd as he wrought his magic at the playground near the Lincoln Road entrance.
As a former artist for the United States Postal Service, the South Carolina native created signs, posters and illustrations, including a 4 x 8 foot carving entitled “The Spirit of ’76,” for the Cadman Plaza Post Office in downtown Brooklyn.
Neals has been commissioned by the Prospect Park Alliance and the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. His other commissions include 10 bronze plaques for the “Harlem Walk of Fame,” and works grace the private collections of, among others, Randy Weston, Harry Belafonte and Oprah Winfrey.
