February 13, 2007 - April 21, 2007
Central Library, Grand Lobby (branch info)

Footprints: Portrait of a Brooklyn Neighborhood
Curated and organized by Belle Benfield and Daniel Sagarin

The proposed Atlantic Yards arena and building complex in Brooklyn is poised to be one of the largest redevelopment projects ever undertaken in New York City. Its targeted 22-acre site is known as the "Footprint".

In the midst of the debate over the future of Atlantic Yards and of Brooklyn, a group of local artists has joined together in an effort to move beyond the sound bites and take a closer look at this contested place and its community.

Footprints: Portrait of a Brooklyn Neighborhood stands as a document of a Brooklyn neighborhood facing rapid change.

Belle Benfield is a painter, printmaker and muralist with Groundswell Community Mural Project where she served as Acting Director. Her works have been in exhibitions throughout New York City and in Cuba. The Bower Trust awarded Benfield a grant for a three-month residency in Cuba, and she received a Brooklyn Arts Council Community Arts grant for this exhibition.

Dan Sagarin is a photographer. He has completed three documentary photo projects: One City Block: San Francisco, a study of community and diversity within a square block of the city; The Kids at School, which explores youth in a public elementary school and A Mural Grows in Brooklyn, which documents the painting of a mural on Washington Avenue. Sagarin's photos have exhibited in New York City and San Francisco, and he received a Brooklyn Arts Council Community Arts grant for this exhibition.

To contact the artists: www.bellebenfield.com and www.dansagarin.com