Bonnie Siracusa
Long Island-based artist and master muralist Bonnie Siracusa presents “New York Nostaligia”, a series of limited edition fine art giclees created from original murals celebrating well known Long Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan landmarks. The project, which consisted of 15 murals, covering over 1,100 square feet of wall space, began in the Fall of 2011 and took approximately two years to complete. They included famous Long Island locations such as Adventureland, Captree State Park, the Long Island Cradle of Aviation Museum, the Jones Beach Theatre, the Jones Beach Boardwalk, Harbes Family Farm, Old Bethpage Village Restoration and the Atlantis Aquarium in Riverhead. As this project progressed, along came Hurricane Sandy, which significantly altered many of these beaches. This only made the artist’s passion even greater, to bring these places seemingly to life, and preserve their beauty forever, through her exceptional attention to detail and rich color.
Other art in this series was originally created as local historical murals for: the Carpenters Union, the National Letter Carriers Union and for several U.S. Postal Service stations in Brooklyn and Queens.
These post offices include: The “Brooklyn Dodgers in Ebbets Field Stadium” mural for the Ryder Retail Station in Flatlands, Brooklyn, The outdoor “Brooklyn Bridge Fireworks” mural, which includes the WTC Towers in its skyline, and the “Stamps” mural commemorating human causes, national and Brooklyn history, for the Ryder Delivery Station, the Coney Island amusement park murals for the Coney Island Station and the “Aqueduct Racetrack” mural for the Ozone Park Station. The Carpenter’s Union Mural was commissioned as a Memorial commemorating 100 of their members who lost their lives in 9/11. The National Letter Carriers Union mural, painted for the meeting room of Branch 41, in Brooklyn, is an entire bird’s eye view of Brooklyn, literally seen through a picture window. It illustrates how the Letter Carriers Union has made significant contributions to the community. Last but not least, is a highly accurate rendition of the Coney Island Boardwalk; a composite of its time line, ranging from the late 18th century to the beginning of the 21st century. The artist worked along with a Brooklyn historian in order to get the precise names and placements of its famous landmarks. The flamboyant people on the boardwalk are regular marchers from the famous Coney Island Mermaid Parade.
This series marks phase two of Bonnie’s long and tedious journey of taking her murals beyond the confines of their walls and transforming them into archival, museum quality works of art, which can be published, exhibited and sold worldwide for many generations to enjoy.