The Hall of the Gowanus, a mini-museum and gallery of art, artifacts, maps, documents and books, acknowledges our post-industrial neighbor and namesake: the Gowanus Canal. As the site of the Revolutionary Battle of Brooklyn, the locus of vital 19th century industry and water commerce, and inspiration and setting for present-day artists, writers and small businesses, this polluted waterway has played a central role in the colorful history of Brooklyn.

Highlights from the collection include:

Three Canvases from the Project for Gowanus – part of a series of canvases by David Eustace that were hung in the canal to track its tidal flow.

Gowanus Crossing – prismacolor drawings by Michael Koehler exploring a Gowanus viewscape and interposing an imagined baseball field in its midst.

Gowanus Phonoscope - an audiovisual portrait by Kevin T Allen using 3D images and 3D sounds of the Gowanus at the Union Street Bridge

Historical Maps of the Gowanus from 1639-2010 – sized and mounted by Eymund Diegel on historic yellow pine  salvaged from Gowanus dumpsters and vacant lots, these maps provide a visual history of the area’s development.

A Flora of the Gowanus - pressed and framed flowers collected along the Gowanus by James Walsh.

A Timeline of the Gowanus – an 8 ft tall rolling timeline of the key historical events of the Gowanus area from 1636 to 2010 written and installed by Dan Wiley.

The Grand Gowanus – a limited edition set of four giclee prints by Karla Roberts showing the Gowanus Canal and the canals of Venice side by side, forcing the comparison of our polluted industrial canal, frequently referred to as the “Venice of Brooklyn”, with the real thing.