Another successful Holiday Windows Contest is in the books! With nearly triple the number of votes from last year (!), the people have spoken and this years top honors go to&

1st Place: LeAnne Iverson and Benjamin Banneker Academy Students for Cross Culture Holiday at Optimum Care Rehab. (Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development is a public high school located at Clinton and Park Avenue, and we were thrilled to have local students participate in this project!)
2nd Place: Katie Huffman for Winter Solstice at Pillow Caf

Another successful Holiday Windows Contest is in the books! With nearly triple the number of votes from last year (!), the people have spoken and this years top honors go to&

1st Place: LeAnne Iverson and Benjamin Banneker Academy Students for Cross Culture Holiday at Optimum Care Rehab. (Benjamin Banneker Academy for Community Development is a public high school located at Clinton and Park Avenue, and we were thrilled to have local students participate in this project!)
2nd Place: Katie Huffman for Winter Solstice at Pillow Caf

There are three reasons why you absolutely need to stop by new Myrtle bar and restaurant, Sans Souci, this Tuesday, December 15th:
1. You've been waiting all month for the Holiday Window winners to be announced, and the suspense has been killing you! The polls are closed, the votes are being tabulated, and we'll make the official announcement at 7pm! Maybe you'll even have a chance to meet the artist who created your favorite window!
2. Sans Souci's Happy Hour can't be beat, and they're extending it to 7:30pm just for us! Specials include $5 drinks and $4 beers, which is just what the doctor ordered.
3. There's music too! Beginning at 7:30pm, Sans Souci will host our final
Tuesday Live Music Night
with some 'Funky Percussion'. It'll be sure to lift those holiday spirits.

Sans Souci is located at 330 Myrtle between Washington Park and Carlton. See you there!

Our Arts & Culture programs bring public sculpture, performances, studio art, and creative street furniture elements to public spaces, sidewalks, and businesses in the 20-block retail district of Myrtle Avenue, Fort Greene & Clinton Hill. These programs increase access to art for the entire community, while creating opportunities for both emerging and established artists and driving foot traffic to the commercial corridor.

Myrtle Merchant Art Exhibitions

The walls of Myrtle Avenue’s shops and restaurants often play host to artworks representing our vibrant community of artists here in Ft Greene and Clinton Hill…

Myrtle Windows Gallery

By “breaking down the walls” of the traditional private art gallery, Myrtle Windows Gallery brings two-dimensional art to the public arena via storefront windows…

Public Art Installations

Public sculpture installations aim to transform Myrtle’s public spaces into temporary homes for public art, highlighting our community’s creative spirit…

Black Artstory Month

Each February, Myrtle Avenue celebrates Black History Month with a month-long series of events that highlight local artists…

Our historic preservation initiatives focus on preserving the historic built environment of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Wallabout and promoting the area’s rich history to both neighborhood residents and visitors.

New York Main Street Grant Program

This State-funded program has provided Myrtle Avenue business and property owners with matching funds to make improvements to their buildings…

Wallabout Historic Districts

This historic mixed-use neighborhood has been around for more than 380 years and offers a wealth of history and architecture for locals and visitors to enjoy…

Wallabout Homeowner’s Manual

This useful resource for owner’s of local historic homes gives an overview of how to care for the neighborhood’s unique residential architecture…

Neighborhood Walking Tours

Explore the rich history of the neighborhood surround Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Wallabout through guided and self-guided tours…

University Settlement currently seeks candidates for Program Director and Assistant Program Director positions at Ingersoll Community Center:

Here's an excerpt–

Since 1886, University Settlement has been providing a variety of effective and strengths-based, community-based programs for youth and families. In January 2010, we will open a new Cornerstone Program at the Ingersoll Community Center in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The Center is an 18,000-square-foot facility that includes a gym, computer center, art studio, library, classrooms and meeting spaces; we will offer multi-generational programming that is responsive to and reflects the specific needs of the neighborhood. The Center will be open six days a week and provide targeted programming for youth ages 5 through 21, with additional programs for adults. The Assistant Program Director will partner with the Program Director on all day-to-day operations at the site. The position requires a creative, energetic, experienced team-building leader committed to providing the highest quality of programming for children and families.

Good news! You've still got time to pull out the sketch pad, the camera, the laptop, and whatever other tools you like, to submit initial design ideas for the planned Myrtle Avenue pedestrian plaza between Grand and Emerson. Now that the location and geometry of the plaza are more or less set, it is time to focus on the actual features, amenities and landscaping that the community would like to see there.

In the coming months, NYC DOT will assign a professional design team that will work us and the community during an approximately year-long design phase. In the meantime, we are issuing a Call For Ideas (PDF document, about 1.5 MB) to ensure that we have as many creative concepts and best practices at our disposal during the very first meetings with the design team, allowing us to have a better sense of the community's priorities for the plaza. Submissions are due by November 16th, with the full details and instructions explained in the Call for Ideas PDF document. Photos can also be uploaded and shared via our Plaza Design Group if you become a fan on Facebook.

We want to be sure that this new plaza results in a truly well-designed and well-loved public space for the neighborhood. We are asking professional designers and amateurs alike to contribute original design concepts for the Myrtle Plaza, or to submit compelling photos of features from existing public spaces that you particularly like. The Call for Ideas aims to involve the community in the creation of a great public space on Myrtle Avenue, generating design and programming concepts that are progressive and sustainable and that support a variety of user groups and activities while capturing the energy, diversity and dynamic character of our neighborhood.

All entries will be compiled and reviewed by urban planners on the Partnership staff, as well as by the Myrtle Avenue Plaza Advisory Committee, made up of local stakeholders. A selection of the submissions will be posted on our website.

The Myrtle Avenue Pedestrian Plaza is the result of a multi-year community planning process that began in the fall of 2005, where improving the avenue's public spaces became a major emphasis as individuals expressed their desire to have public spaces to sit, eat, relax, people-watch, and to otherwise create a better sense of place. This year, the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership was awarded participation in the first round of the NYC Plaza Program for our proposal for a plaza between Grand Avenue and Emerson Place on two blocks of the existing service road.

The design and development of the Plaza will be made possible by funds committed by NYC DOT, City Council Member Leticia James, Borough President Marty Markowitz, the US Department of Transportation's CMAQ program, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership BID.

If you have any questions regarding the Call for Ideas, or would like CAD files of the street geometry, please contact sarah@myrtleavenue.org

Join your neighbors this Saturday, October 24th for the first ever Fort Greene Food Conference! Councilmember Letitia James has organized this community gathering, bringing residents, local leaders and experts together to address community concerns in relation to food access, and to build skills and momentum for more healthy and affordable food in the neighborhood.

The conference will take place at P.S. 67 at 51 Edwards St (btw Myrtle and Park). Registration begins at 12:30pm, and the opening addresses by Councilmember James and Yonnette Fleming, the coordinator of the Hattie Carthan Community Garden and Market, will commence at 1pm. The conference will end with a healthy BBQ celebration from 4pm-6pm.
All residents are welcome at this FREE conference and celebration.

For more information, visit the conference website here.

Want to improve access to healthy, affordable food in our community? Interested in improving the food in our childrens schools? Or establishing more community gardens and healthy food markets? Then please join us at the first Fort Greene/Clinton Hill neighborhood meeting of the Brooklyn Food Coalition!

The meeting is taking place this Thursday, October 8th, 6:30pm in the Board Room of the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Churchs, located at 85 S. Oxford St.

The Brooklyn Food Coalition is a grassroots partnership of individuals and groups who strive to give an effective voice to all those who live in or serve Brooklyn and wish to achieve a just and sustainable system for healthy and affordable food.

Please invite your friends and neighbors. All are welcome!
For more info, contact: Regina at reason9776@yahoo.com.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the fourth exhibition in the Myrtle Windows Gallery, make sure you do so this weekend! We'll be saying goodbye to this show, curated by Kennis Baptiste of The Rising Arts Gallery, next week. Come out to Tamboril (between Steuben and Grand) on Sunday from 4pm-9pm to celebrate this fantastic show that featured the works of ten Brooklyn artists in our MWG storefronts, as well as inside Pillow Cafe and Tamboril.

So, what did you think of MWG's first year? How did art in storefront windows impact your experience walking down Myrtle? We want to hear from you, so please send us your feedback! You can post comments here, or send them to meredith@myrtleavenue.org. Oh, and while you're touring this exhibition, remember to thank your Myrtle merchants who have generously donated their storefronts for the cause of promoting public art!

The third annual Fort Greene Park Conservancy fundraiser will take place on Monday, October 5th from 6-10 at the Irondale Center (85 South Oxford).

Wines accompanied by a variety of appetizers, cheeses, charcuterie, hors d'oeuvres and fresh fruit and bread. A local DJ will provide musical ambiance, with special surprises.

Come out and support our historic Fort Greene Park.

For more details, click here.