Howe’s Brooklyn: Pop Culture Iconography At BRIC Reveals ‘Absurdities’ Of World’s Condition

BRIC’s CURRENT THOUGHT-PROVOKING EXHIBIT, CALLED “GROTESQUE HISTORIES,” curated by Director of Visual Arts ELIZABETH FERRER and gallery Manager BASEERA KHAN, addresses the world’s condition through a historical span of iconographies. Three artists with distinct visual style — Enrique Chagoya, Aaron Johnson and Miguel Luciano — all draw attention to the absurdities of history, politics, religion and society through allusions to popular culture and mass media. “Histories” will run until August 8. Call for hours at (718) 875-4047.

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SUE WOLFE, president of The Friends of Douglass/Greene Park, Inc. announced that $800,000 in capital funds has been allocated toward renovating Thomas Greene Park. The park abuts a popular swimming pool (the “Double D”) to the west and is bordered by Third Avenue, Douglass Street and DeGraw Street — a densely populated area with a distinct lack of green space.

“We are very grateful to Councilmembers Yassky and deBlasio and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz for supporting the community’s efforts to upgrade this park,” said Wolfe. “Thomas Greene Park is profoundly underutilized and has not been updated in decades. The communities surrounding it are in great need of green space.”

The next step is to convene a cross section of community members to develop a renovation plan, according to Friends co-founder Jo Anne Simon. “Our goals include adding a much-needed comfort station, and making the park an attractive recreation destination for families with young children, older children and teens, elderly people, and those who work in the area’s many businesses, enhancing quality of life in the area.”

More than 160 alumni and friends of St. Francis College together raised roughly $100,000 for student scholarships at the Annual Meadow Brook Golf Outing in Jericho, N.Y., on June 23.

“This is our tenth year holding this event, and we are proud to announce that we have reached our goal of raising more than $1 million over the decade,” said Edward Travaglianti, ’70, president of Commerce Bank, L.I., and co-chairman of the event. The other event co-chair was St. Francis President Brendan J. Dugan ‘68. Ever the planners, next year’s outing has already been scheduled for June 22.

HEIGHTS RESIDENT GABRIEL BYRNE is the newest patron of Belfast’s Irish-language theater company Aisling Ghear, reported BrooklynHeightsBlog. The Dublin-born actor was invited to visit them this year, and the troupe’s general manager told the Belfast Telegraph that having “avid” Irish-speaking Byrne as their patron will be great for them. She said, “He has been very supportive of Irish-language projects in the past It consigns some kind of artistic merit that we have become established and reached a level of quality where we have a Hollywood actor associated with us.”

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JANETTE SADIK-KHAN, COMMISSIONER FOR THE NYC DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION, will be among the speakers at the next quarterly Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable Luncheon on August 5 at the Brooklyn Historical Society. She will highlight the DOT’s initiatives in Brooklyn — from sustainable streets and traffic safety, to traffic patterns, bicycle paths and congestion pricing. JED WALENTAS of Two Trees Management will discuss the Court House project, SEAN HENNESSEY of Lodging Advisors will analyze the current and prospective hotel climate in Brooklyn, and KATIE DIXON of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership will review current and future development plans within the BAM cultural district. For more info visit www.brooklynhistory. org. Proceeds go to the society.

On July 21, the Macon Street Block Association (between Patchen and Ralph avenues) invites you for a lively evening of entertainment by trumpeter, composer and arranger EDDIE ALLEN, a musician with Broadway ties based near Fort Greene. The music will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

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HANNAH HOPKINS KILGORE of DUMBO graduated cum laude with a BA in medieval studies from Connecticut College … KATE LINDER of Carroll Gardens graduated from Maryland Institute College of Art with a BFA in graphic design … Prospect Heights resident IAN THOMAS received his BA degree cum laude from the Loyola University’s College of Humanities & Natural Science … Army Reserve Spec. ANTHONY N. THOMPSON has graduated from Basic Combat training at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla. Thompson is a 1995 graduate of Wingate High School in Brooklyn.