Aug25

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A Carousel Of Visions;Artist Brings the Fantasies Of Children to Magical Life

Artistic acclaim came early to Milo Mottola. When he was 8, his drawing of menacing tooth film with the slogan “Plaque is mean, so keep teeth clean” was such a hit it won him a $50 savings bond from a dental group and was made into a poster. Nearly 25 years later, Mr. Mottola, an artist who lives in Long Island City, Queens, NY, decided to try to find a way to give other children that same dizzy excitement and spark of confidence, without all those dentists.

What could be better, he thought, than asking children to draw the animals they would like to ride on a carousel — and then to make that carousel, carving the animals exactly as the children drew them? I wanted it to be as magical as the children who ride it,” said Mr. Mottola, who, in an echo of his own past, gave each child whose animal was chosen a $50 savings bond, and a lifetime of free rides on the carousel.

Above each animal, Mr. Mottola displayed the child’s original drawing, and on the floor beneath each animal, he carved the child’s signature. “I wanted the winners to have something that will last forever, where they can someday take their husbands and wives and say ‘I did this.’ “

The carousel is on permanent display in Riverbank State Park, the 28-acre park built three years ago atop a sewage treatment plant between West 137th and West 145th Streets in Harlem.

“improvisation, writing, painting, invention—all creative acts—are forms of play,

the starting place of creativity in the human growth cycle, one of the great primal life functions.”

— stephen nachmanovitch, Free Play

 

 

 

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Source Credits: Pam Belluck, Milo Mottola, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Percent for Art Program

Material: steel (alloy), wood, fiberglass

Address:679 Riverside Dr, New York, 10031, USA

 

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  34. Hi. Nice to meet you! I just came across your blog and absolutely love it and this post. I love carousels.
    I’m 42, and if we’re at a carnival or somewhere fun and they have one, I’ll always get on it with my kids. lol – or at least stand next to one of the plastic animals. This is a beautiful post.

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