News from Fort Greene Park Conservancy
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In this issue...
  • Children's Education Garden Blooms in Fort Greene Park!
  • Fine Art Print to Commemorate the 2008 Centennial Celebration of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument
  • Enjoy a Musical Tribute to Brooklyn's First Poet, Walt Whitman
  • Artisan Market Returns on August 16
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    We are grateful to the following businesses and foundations for their support. For more information about sponsorship opportunities, contact us at info@fortgreenepark.org.
    July/August 2008
    Greetings,

    The Fort Greene Park Conservancy (FGPC) continues its year long celebration of the 100th Anniversary year of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument. While the official Centennial Celebration will be in November 2008, other events are scheduled for this summer and into the fall. And in case you asked - the fence around the monument plaza will be finally coming down in early fall!

    On August 14 please join us for a musical event produced in association with our Revolutionary War-site partners, the Old Stone House. The performance at the Old Stone House is devoted to Walt Whitman, our parks' spiritual founding father. And speaking of Walt Whitman, check out the interesting new website devoted to Whitman's Brooklyn: whitmansbrooklyn.org.

    We are all very excited about our new Children's Education Garden in Fort Greene Park - a volunteer-led effort supported by the Fort Greene Park Conservancy. The Garden encourages local children to explore the wonders of nature in a free, safe, and accessible environment by offering green space to young "budding" gardeners from local neighborhoods. For more on the Garden see the story below.

    The Conservancy is delighted that Carol Anastasio has joined the Fort Greene Park team as Director of Volunteers. If you have a organization or group from a large corporation or small business that wants to do good deeds in our community, speak to Carol about how to be productive in the park and have fun at the same time. You can reach at Carol at the Park's Visitor Center office (718) 722-3218.

    See you in the park!


    Charles Jarden, Chair,
    Fort Greene Park Conservancy
    Children's Education Garden Blooms in Fort Greene Park!
    Offering Green Space to Young Gardeners from Local Neighborhoods

    Nature is abloom at Fort Greene Park's newest addition, the Children's Education Garden. Created to encourage visitors to explore the wonders of nature in a free, safe, and accessible environment, the Children's Education Garden in Fort Greene Park offers hands-on summer learning that gives local children another option for outdoor play.

    Abundant with child-friendly tomatoes, strawberries, fragrant herbs, as well as more exotic specimens as white eggplant and purple green beans, the Children's Education Garden is an ABC garden - with each letter of the alphabet represented in a different plant species. Children can fully interact with the garden through tasting (orange and lemon mint), smelling (horseradish and dill), touch (the furry softness of lamb's ears leaves, globe thistle, wooly thyme) and sight (zebra grass, oakleaf hydrangea).

    Volunteers and their young helpers give weekly tours of the garden and encourage visitors to explore the wonders of nature in a free, safe, and accessible environment. For more committed young gardeners, a limited number of planting boxes are available to give a school or camp group a dedicated place to plant, water, weed, and observe the fruits (and vegetables) of their labors.

    The Children's Education Garden in Fort Greene Park is a volunteer-led effort supported by the Fort Greene Park Conservancy. The mission of the conservancy is to improve the park for the enjoyment of Fort Greene residents and our neighbors. Adjacent neighborhoods include the Walt Whitman Projects, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Wallabout.

    For more information about the Children's Education Garden in Fort Greene Park, please contact the Conservancy at info@fortgreenepark.org or Melanie McCluskey at 347-529-6242.
    Fine Art Print to Commemorate the 2008 Centennial Celebration of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument

    In commemoration of the November 2008 Centennial Celebration of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument a fine art poster is now available from the Fort Greene Park Conservancy. This limited-edition Glicee print is a high quality reproduction of the wonderful cover artwork of the original 1908 Souvenir Journal created for President Taft's dedication of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park.

    The poster is being offered for sale as a limited, numbered edition of 500 copies from the Conservancy. Sized to fit a standard 16 x 20 inch frame, the print is $75 unframed, or $150 framed, in a black, one-inch frame.

    All posters are accompanied with a Certificate of Authenticity from the Conservancy. Because the Fort Greene Park Conservancy is a 501c3 nonprofit organization, 60% of your cost can be deducted as a donation to the Conservancy and the Prison Ships Martyrs Monument's 2008.

    The posters will also be available at the Artisan-Market at Fort Greene Park starting on Saturday August 16, 2008.

    For more information go to the website.
    Enjoy a Musical Tribute to Brooklyn's First Poet, Walt Whitman
    At the Old Stone House on Aug 14, 2008 at 7 PM

    Presented as part of the Conservancy's year-long Prison Ship Martyrs Memorial 2008 Centennial Celebration, this free event honors one of our park's founding fathers, Walt Whitman. In the 1850s while working for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Walt Whitman advocated for a lasting memorial to the brave martyrs of who died on the notorious Prison Ships during the American Revolution. His efforts eventually resulted in the erection of the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument and the creation of Fort Greene Park.

    The concert will be held at one of Brooklyn's most important Revolutionary War sites, the Old Stone House, located on Fifth Avenue in Gowanus, and features Opera on Tap (OOT), Brooklyn's favorite populist opera company, along with American Opera Projects (AOP).

    Opera on Tap will perform songs based on Whitman poems by composers from AOP's Composers & the Voice program. Honoring Whitman's influence on American poetry, OOT will round out the show with songs and texts by other American greats such as Emily Dickinson, James Agee and e.e. cummings. The songs will be introduced with historical footnotes provided by Greg Trupiano, Artistic Director of Brooklyn's The Walt Whitman Project.

    The Old Stone House of Brooklyn is located in JJ Byrne Park at 3rd Street at 5th Avenue. Brooklyn, NY 11215. Visit their website for more information about the building's importance in the Revolutionary War. (718) 768-3195.
    Artisan Market Returns on August 16

    Now in its sixth year, the Artisan Market will return on August 16, 2008. The market, which is located adjacent to the Greenmarket at Fort Greene Park on DeKalb Ave and Washington is open Saturdays only from from 9 AM to 6 PM. Park. For more information check the website at www.artisan-market.org. The Artisan Market helps support Fort Greene Park through donations to the Conservancy.

    Come, enjoy and purchase the works of some of Brooklyn's best artists and designers at this year's Artisan Market. "You'll find no fleas here... just independent design & fine art."

    The limited edition Centennial posters will be available at the Artisan-Market starting on Saturday August 16, 2008.

    Painting by Natasha Harsh.
    phone: 718-222-1461