Amy Bennett | Heydays

About the project

A glass mosaic mural installed within the mezzanine wall of the 86 St station, "Heydays" celebrates the past and present of Bay Ridge, which is always evolving. The work is based on paintings by Amy Bennett, whose artwork is based on the unique characteristics of the neighborhood's homes, which offer a glimpse into the past. Captivated by the great estates and summer homes dating to the area's rural origins, the artist re-imagined the neighborhood in her mosaic artwork, building detailed 3-D replicas that served as still-life models for her painstakingly detailed paintings, from which the mosaics were interpreted. Trees, grass and a light blue sky surround the houses and neighbors may be interpreted as from the past or the present.

A portion of the artwork was recently reconfigured due to the ADA upgrade at the station.

About the artist

Through her paintings of interior scenes, and suburban landscapes, Portland-born artist Amy Bennett explores memory, narrative, themes of suburban life, and an awareness of our changing surroundings. Inspired by rural and suburban upstate New York, where she lives, Bennett creates artworks through a painstaking process. The artist begins by creating scale models and dioramas of fictional places using cardboard, wood, Styrofoam, plastic, string, paint, glue, and model railroad miniatures. She then turns these suburban scenes of life and places into paintings. Bennett has had numerous solo and group exhibitions across the United States and internationally.