{"id":219205,"date":"2026-05-04T13:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219205\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T13:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:32:10","slug":"flatbush-history-inspires-mosaics-at-church-avenue-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/219205\/","title":{"rendered":"Flatbush History Inspires Mosaics at Church Avenue Station"},"content":{"rendered":"

The lush mosaics by artist Christopher Myers were unveiled at the Church Avenue station on April 24.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"large\"large <\/p>\n

The pieces at the Church Avenue station feature performers from days gone by in front of red velvet curtains. Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n

by Kirstyn Brendlen and Erica Price, Brooklyn Paper<\/p>\n

In a subway station that has served Flatbush for over a century, a series of lush mosaics marry the neighborhood\u2019s theatrical history with the vibrant cultures of its present.<\/p>\n

The MTA and artist Christopher Myers unveiled the pieces, titled \u201cIf you don\u2019t want your children to know the truth about life don\u2019t send \u2018em to the theater,\u201d at the Church Avenue station on April 24.<\/p>\n

Myers, a prolific artist whose work explores culture, art, history, and displacement, said he was inspired by the \u201cintersecting histories\u201d of Flatbush.<\/p>\n

\"peopleArtist Christopher Myers, (right) and the MTA unveiled a series of mosaics at the Church Avenue station in late April. Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of my work is research-based. It\u2019s based in the stories of communities, the ways in which our very local history affects and is part of larger world history,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In the 20th century, Flatbush was a theater district, filled with movie houses and vaudeville theaters long since closed. The Kings Theatre<\/a> is a lone relic of the time.<\/p>\n

Myers\u2019 mosaics are a callback to that time, featuring draped red velvet curtains adorned with stars and framed in gold. In front of the curtain stand life-size depictions of beloved performers of old \u2013 vaudeville actress Bessie McCoy Davis, singer Lottie Collins, and comedian Jackie \u2018Moms\u2019 Mabley.<\/p>\n

\"peopleMyers said his works were inspired by the \u201cintersecting histories\u201d of the neighborhood. Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n

But the theater wasn\u2019t his sole inspiration. Myers said he sees theater as \u201cany place in which cultures meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you go to the theater, you\u2019re going to expand your world, do something other than yourself,\u201d he explained. \u201cYou come to find yourself in that thing that is other than yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

By that definition, he said, the tradition of theater is alive and well in Flatbush.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt continues in the kind of small moments in which we all are with each other on a subway, or in the larger moments, like the history of the Caribbean diaspora and African-American diaspora that run through Flatbush,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the Labor Day parade<\/a>, when you see the carryovers from Carnival in Flatbush, that is also a kind of theater. The kind of place in which we go to meet ourselves and each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"artistThe mosaics are Myers\u2019 first permanent public works. Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n

Moving between the curtains are three Moko Jumbies, masked stilt walkers who symbolize celebration and protection at Carnival celebrations in the Caribbean, said Tina Vaz, director of MTA Arts & Design. The figures weave Flatbush\u2019s past and present together in one tiled piece.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to see all of this theater history \u2014 the quotidian theater of everyday life, the history of Carnival and the red velvet curtain, gold-leaf theaters of days gone by \u2014 to see it all as part of one continuity,\u201d Myers said.<\/p>\n

The pieces, commissioned by MTA Arts & Design as part of the \u201cArt Everywhere for Everyone<\/a>\u201d anniversary celebration, felt particularly special for Myers. Fabricated by Mosaicos Venecianos de M\u00e9xico<\/a>, they are his first mosaics and his first permanent public work.<\/p>\n

\"mosaicOne of the Moko Jumbies, who represent Flatbush\u2019s Caribbean community. Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n

Myers was born and raised in New York City and has lived in Brooklyn for decades. For lifelong New Yorkers, the subway is a fixture of the imagination, he said, and he sees the system as a \u201cmiracle\u201d despite its many shortcomings.<\/p>\n

He still remembers his parents calling the lines by their old names \u2014 the IRT, BMT, and IND. The Church Avenue B\/Q station<\/a>, where his mosaics were installed, was part of the BMT and opened in 1907. (The Brighton Beach Railroad steam train operated a stop in the vicinity starting in 1878.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI love when my work is acquired by museums and public institutions,\u201d Myers said. \u201cThe subway feels somehow more permanent. It feels like a part of the archeology of the city, and it\u2019s such a gift to integrate my own work, my own little moment, into that long, long history.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"closeupMyers said he was thrilled to be part of the city\u2019s history and architecture. Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n

He was thrilled to finally unveil the mosaics to the public. His works aren\u2019t finished until they land with an audience, he said, especially one as broad and diverse as subway commuters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Arts & Design, we believe art has the power to transform a daily commute, to interrupt the ordinary with moments of recognition, connection, and beauty,\u201d Vaz said. \u201cThis work does that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myers said he hopes commuters can take a pause and use his mosaics to see themselves and their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my goals is everyone should be able to see themselves on that stage,\u201d he said. \u201cThe figures are life-size figures, and ideally people will stand in front of the red velvet curtains that are made in tile and imagine what kind of theater are they making.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here <\/a>to see the original story.<\/p>\n

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