In 1867, Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux designed a simple entranceway to Prospect Park known as the Plaza. There were no statues or memorials, just a wide, graded elliptical expanse and lone fountain. Approximately twenty years later, the Park’s commissioners decided the Plaza would be a fitting location to showcase civic pride and beautify the expanding urban environment, giving birth to the idea of Grand Army Plaza.

Today, it is easy to hustle across the busy streets feeding into Grand Army Plaza without taking notice of the statues and monuments standing nearby. The noise of car horns and truck engines unconsciously hurries you through the space as quickly as possible.

But if you slow down and tune out the cacophonic distraction of present-day Brooklyn, the grace and grandeur of the Plaza re-emerges. There is beauty and heroism; sculptures honoring noble efforts fortified with courage. Timeless sentries in art and public works stand watch over successive generations.

This photographic project seeks out what was forgotten, and who is passed by in Grand Army Plaza. These portraits reanimate their distinguished subjects and provide a sense of calm for visitors who wish to leave the urban hubbub, once again, for just a little while.

This exhibit was on view at the Municipal Arts Society in Manhattan from June 7, 2006 to July 31, 2006.