Lehman College has launched a website devoted to the borough’s greatest examples of architecture.
The website, which can be accessed through the Lehman College Art Gallery portal, casts an eye on Bronx buildings from the 19th century on.
The website features more than 75 buildings. It also includes background information on public art, architects, suggested neighborhood walking tours, maps, lesson plans for high school teachers, neighborhood histories, a resource guide and an architecture glossary.
Most appealing are the website’s descriptions and photos of the Bronx’s best-known landmarks, such as the Bartow-Pell Mansion, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and Gould Memorial Library at Bronx Community College.
“The Bronx is an extraordinary place and is so beautiful but many people have no idea about all of the great buildings, murals and sculptures here,” Lehman College Art Gallery director Susan Hoeltzel, who spent four years developing the website, said. “I think if people know more about the history of [Bronx] neighborhoods, they will take better care of them. I thought this website should be a wonderful resource for the people in the community.”
The website, developed with the help of Lehman College students, boasts histories of 35 neighborhoods, from Highbridge to Throggs Neck, Morris Heights to Morris Park.
The depth and breath of the borough’s art and architecture impressed her when Hoeltzel when she arrived in the early 1980s to conduct art programs at public schools for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
“I kept running into great murals in buildings by extraordinary architects,” Hoeltzel said. “There were WPA murals from the 1930s and older sculptures in various neighborhoods throughout the borough. There was also a public art program that set aside a small amount of money for art in every new public building project.”
The Lehman College architecture website is online at lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/arch/index.html
Reach reporter Patrick Rocchio at 718 742-3393 or procchio@cnglocal.com
