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Left to right: Broad Street Station, Polhemus House, YWCA Building, Newark Museum, Ballantine House,
Second Presbyterian Church, American Insurance Company, Newark Public Library
When I examine old pictures of my neighborhood in Newark’s archives, I realize that so much of my city’s built environment has vanished. I built the model below as my own souvenir of demolished buildings.
The landmarks depicted are selected from my neighborhood and include my childhood home. The buildings are drawn with ink and pastel on thick paper, which is then cut out to form a two-dimensional silhouette. The trolleys travel back and forth down the street and are magnetically operated by a crank and hidden string beneath the street. The tracks guide the trains up, down, and into the tunnel. These trolleys are modeled on those that used to exist in American urban life.
This models presents a more romanticized and idealized Newark than the city that actually exists.
