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Fort Greene Photo Exhibition Celebrates Unsung Neighborhood Heroes

Community Heroes NYC tells the stories of those everyday local residents who make an impact in their neighborhood and who too often remain unseen.
Community Heroes, BK Reader
Photo credit: Community Heroes NYC

Community Heroes NYC tells the stories of those everyday local residents who make an impact in their neighborhood and who too often remain unseen.

Community Heroes NYC
Photo credit: Community Heroes NYC

Community Heroes NYC, a Brooklyn-based art project, is revealing its new portrait exhibition celebrating the unsung neighborhood heroes of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill on Saturday, August 18 at Commodore Barry Park and Fort Greene Park.

Founded in 2016 by freelance artist and educator Jasmin Chang, and activists Zac Martin and Darrell Cheng, Community Heroes NYC seeks to tell the stories of those everyday local residents who make an impact in their neighborhood, and who too often go unmentioned and remain unseen. Inspired by Peace Fest, an annual Memorial Day event in Fort Greene Park that honors neighborhood peacemakers, the three Brooklynites partnered with the festival organizers to highlight local heroes; the team took their photos, printed their portraits on banners and displayed them at the event.

Now, after a seven-month-long outreach process that generated 140 nominations, Community Heroes NYC selected 20 individuals as representatives of their neighborhoods. From December 2017 to June 2018, Martin, Chang and the project's Community Liaison Ivan Valladares, attended dozens of community gatherings, including the Community Board 2, the Walt Whitman and Clinton Hill Public Libraries, the GrowNYC Fort Greene Greenmarket, the Fulton Street Business Improvement District and various local tenant associations. On Saturday, the 2018 Community Heroes will be revealed: Each park will exhibit ten portraits printed in large banners and shot by local photographers.

And this is just the beginning: The organization will continue to collect nominations for heroes and seeks photographers to take their portraits. Twenty more portraits will rotate into the exhibition until July 2019.

Community Heroes  2018 Opening Reception

When: Saturday, August 18, 2:00pm

Where: Commodore Barry Park, Flushing Avenue & N. Elliot Pl, Brooklyn, NY 11201 | Fort Greene Park, Washington Park St, Brooklyn, NY 11205




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