Lee Brozgold and Students of P.S. 41
The, Greenwich Village Murals
1994

Mosaic and ceramic tiles

With special thanks to P.S. 41:
Art teacher Deborah Lewis and student artists Joseph Breed, Alex Chester, Marc Freshman, Stephen Giglio, Lila Gollogly, Steven Gouin, Georgia Kung, Enrique Lomnitz, and Jamaal Thomas

Fabricated by Sherle Wagner International, Inc. and Miotto Mosaics.

Commissioned by Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts for Transit and MTA New York City Transit

[and a plate below describes the characters]
Founders
This mural depicts people who were instrumental in establishing the Village, including an early land developer, the publisher of New York’s first African-American newspaper, a muralist, and a novelist who immortalized Washington Square - all gathered around the great arch.

1. Wouter van Twiller, land developer
2. Canarsie Indian
3. Henry James, novelist
4. Ira Aldridge, actor
5. John La Farge, ?
6. John Brown Russwurm - editor
7. Gouverneur Morris - commissioner

The murals at the Christopher Street/Sheridan Square subway station were done by school students under the guidance of an art teacher. The paintings express characters who were part of the people of Greenwich Village

The paintings were taken on the same day by the same photographer Click for a larger image
The platform where the paintings are located (the train to Downtown) was photographed on the same day by the same photographer Click for a larger image

The paintings are from the "Founders" series. The second plate (whose text appears in the main description) was taken on the same day by the same photographer
In this plate, the individual numbers that appear in the various pictures are indicated, in the following text we will stick to this numbering
Click for a larger image

The following pictures show the drawings and a brief explanation about them:
(The personalities appear in this picture from left to right)
1. Wouter van Twiller (1606-1654) - the administrator of "New Holland" (Nieuw-Nederland), the Dutch colony on the east coast of America, whose capital was New Amsterdam, later - New York.
He founded a farm to grow tobacco, where Greenwich Village is today
2. Red-skinned from the Canarsee tribe - a tribe that lived where New York City is today, and specialized in growing tobacco.
Click for a larger image

(The personalities appear in this picture from left to right)
3. Henry James (1843–1916) - American-English writer. James, who was born in New York and ended his life in Britain, wrote dozens of books, many of which dealt with the connection between American and European culture. James is painted standing in the left arch of the Washington Square’s Arch of Triumph, in reference to his book "Washington Square" in which the environment where James’s grandmother lived is described
4. Ira Aldridge (1807–1867) - American theater actor, who appeared mainly in Shakespearean plays. At the beginning of his career he played at the African Grove, an African-American theater in Greenwich Village.
5. John La Farge (1835-1910) - an American artist who worked in many fields, and mainly specialized in stained glass painting. Le Farge, who appears in the painting on the right arch of theWashington Square’s Arch of Triumph, established his studio in Greenwich Village
Click for a larger image

(The personalities appear in this picture from left to right)
6. John Brown Russwurm (1799-1851) - was an editor and publisher, born in Jamaica. He worked for the abolition of slavery in the United States, and published a newspaper that dealt in this field, a newspaper whose editor was in Greenwich Village. In the last years of his life, he immigrated to Liberia, and was even appointed there as the first governor of African origin of one of the districts there.
7. Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) - one of the founding fathers of the United States, and one of the drafters of the Articles of Confederation, which united the first 13 colonies. He was among those who planned the city of New York.
Click for a larger image

Additional signs at other platforms:
Bohemian People Click for sign's details
Providers Click for sign's details