EXHIBITIONS / EVENTS

Whalemina invites you all
to open our beaches on
Friday May 23rd!
 
Beach 94th Street & Shore Front Pkwy, Rockaway Beach, Queens NY
Friday, May 23rd, 2008 at 11am
 

The Parks Department, Arverne by the Sea, Rockaway Beach Civic Association, RAA and Connolly's are celebrating the beginning of Rockaway's Summer Season this year at Beach 94th Street and the boardwalk.

Believe it or not we have been decorating our favorite whale with mosaic for close to ten years now. This labor of love has finally been realized and the last pieces are going into place as I write this.

There are far too many names to mention all the individuals who have gives their time and talent to this unique public artwork. I can however give her brief history and remember some of the key players.

In the 1990's the late Sal Arena discovered that the whale in Central Park Children's Zoo was being removed and asked the NYC Department of Parks if it could be relocated to Rockaway Beach. With the help of the Rockaway Beach Civic Association and the Community Board 14 this transition occurred and she was moved to her new home at Beach 94th Street.

Since then she has gone through various stages of renovation with the help of neighbors, parks volunteers, artist volunteers even missionaries from the Mormon Church. Through the Rockaway Artists Alliance I managed to secure a grant from the City Parks Foundation and then a generous donation from Benjamin Beechwood LLC of Arverne by the Sea. So some artists actually got paid for a summer to work on the mosaic and we were able to purchase tools and the magical "elastomeric" coating which holds it all together. A special thanks must go out to all of you who donated stained glass, pottery, and beach glass to this project making her the bejeweled mascot of our beach today.

See you on Friday May 23rd from 11am on for sand sculpture, short speeches, the BCHS Marching Band, a Riverhead Mock Dolphin rescue, The middle School 202 band, Indaculture Live and Connolly's opening day.

Just head for Whalemina.
Happy Summer
Geoff Rawling, Rockaway Artists Alliance

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