Memories of 23rd Street, 2002
Glass Mosaic and silk-screned ceramic tile
By Kieth Godard
This artwork consist of a mosaics of a series of hats. Each of these hats has a tile with the name and profession of the relevant celebrity/historical figure who wore a hat with said design. The installation plays homage to historical celebrities who frequented the busy intersections of Madison Square Park above the station. It also plays homage to the flatiron building above the station When the flatiorn building first opened in 1904 it was so much taller than other buildings that people would lose their hats when the wind from the building would stir up and blow around.
Nellie Bly
Stunt person and journalist
William Sidney Porter (O'Henry)
Author
Lillian Russell
Prima donna, soprano
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
Author
Ehrich Weiss (Houdini)
Magician
Sadakichi Hartman
Art Critic and writer
Joseph Barondess
Labor leader
Gertude Kasebier
Photographer
Florenz Ziegfeld
Theatrical producer and impresario
William A. Prendergast
New York City Comptroller
Chaim Zhitlovsky
Philosopher
Samuel Gompers
Labor leader
Phineas T. Barnum
Museum owner and circus entrepreneur
Charles Sherwood Stratton (Tom Thumb)
P.T. Barnum performer
Jessie Tarbox Beals
Photographer
Theodore Gordon
Environmentalist
Bert Williams
Comedian, singer and dancer
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Sculptor
Ethel Barrymore
Actress and theater owner
Robert Adamson
Fire Commissioner
Marcelle Earle
Ziegfeld girl
Robert Ross McBurney
Founder of the YMCA
Charles Melville Dewey
Artist
James Corbett (Gentleman Jim)
Boxer
Eleanor Roosevelt
Humanitarian
Mary Garden
Operatic soprano
Fay Templeton
Singer and actress
Marcelle Earle
Ziegfeld girl
Ehtel Barrymore
Actress and theater owner
Chaim Zhitlovsky
Philosopher
Samuel Gompers
Labor leader
William DuBois
Civil rights leader
Phineas T. Barnum
Museum owner and circus entrepreneur
Jessie Tarbox Beals
Photographer
Theodore Gordon
Environmentalist
Bert Williams
Comedian, singer, and dancer
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Sculptor
Mary Garden
Operatic soprano
Oscar Wilde
Writer and poet
Faye Templeton
Singer and actress
James Corbett(Gentleman Jim)
Boxer
William Randolph Hearst
Newspaper publisher
Edward Penfield
Graphic artist
William Barclay Parsons
Chief Engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission
Last Updated: November 10, 2021
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