Dozens of students from area schools, accompanied by proud parents, filled the auditorium at Fort Hamilton High School for the Bay Ridge Community Council’s presentation of its annual Halloween Art awards.
The event, held during the group’s November meeting, marked the participation by approximately 400 students from 27 public, private and parochial schools in the neighborhood in BRCC’s 57th annual Halloween Art event, with the youngest students (in fourth grade) creating holiday-themed paintings on paper, and the older students spending an October day on one of the local shopping strips prior to the holiday, adorning the windows of participating stores along Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Fifth Avenue, 13th Avenue, Fort Hamilton Parkway and 86th Street with pumpkins, ghosts, witches and other evocative images.
The event accomplishes two things, noted Andrew Windsor, BRCC’s president: “The beautification of our stores and the edification of our children.
“Your talents showed not only on glass that day,” he told the assembled students, “but in the beauty of your faces.”
Assemblymember Janele Hyer-Spencer, who allocates state funding to the event, said she was “So proud I am able to use some of the money from the state to sponsor this amazing competition.
“It’s a joy to me to do this,” Hyer-Spencer went on. “It gives me a chance to support a wonderful endeavor of arts and culture in our community.”
This year, the participating schools were Public School 102, 211 72nd Street; Public School 104, 9115 Fifth Avenue; Public School 112, 7115 15th Avenue; Public School 127, 7805 Seventh Avenue; Public School 163, 1664 Benson Avenue; Public School 170, 7109 Sixth Avenue; Public School 176, 1225 69th Street; Public School 185, 8601 Ridge Boulevard; Public School 204, 8101 15th Avenue; Public School 229, 1400 Benson Avenue; Public School 506, 330 59th Street; Intermediate School 30, 415 Ovington Avenue; Intermediate School 201, 8012 12th Avenue; Intermediate School 227, 6500 16th Avenue; Intermediate School 259, 7305 Fort Hamilton Parkway; Adelphi Academy, 8515 Ridge Boulevard; Bishop Ford High School, 500 19th Street; Fontbonne Hall, 9901 Shore Road; Fort Hamilton H.S., 8301 Shore Road; High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology, 350 67th Street; Holy Angels Academy, 347 74th Street; Leif Ericson Day School, 1037 72nd Street; New Utrecht High School, 1601 80th Street; St. Anselm’s School, 365 83rd Street; St. Ephrem’s School, 7415 Fort Hamilton Parkway; St. Patrick’s School, 401 97th Street; and Visitation Academy, 8902 Ridge Boulevard.
Preparing for the event is quite a project, noted Maria Makrinos, the chairperson of the Halloween Art Committee. “It does take a village to keep this 57-year-old worthwhile event alive,” she told the assembled group.
