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Peter & Willie

History

This text is part of Parks’ Historical Signs Project and can be found postedwithin the park.

Who is this monument dedicated to?
This bronze sculpture features Peter and his dachshund, Willie—familiar characters in the stories of best-selling children’s book author Ezra Jack Keats (1916-1983). This particular tableau is based on Keats’ book Peter’s Chair, and was sculpted by Brooklyn-based, African American artist Otto Neals.

Keats was born in East New York, Brooklyn, and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School. An artist and children’s book illustrator at a time when minority characters were largely unheard of, Keats made them central to his books. Peter, an African American boy introduced in the award-winning classic The Snowy Day (1962), and his friends live and thrive in an urban world of tenements and empty lots, but their experiences—in play, imagination, feelings and friendship—are shared by all children. Keats illustrated his stories with a vivid, colorful blend of collage and painting. In all, he wrote and illustrated 22 books, including A Letter for Amy, Dreams, Goggles! and John Henry, and illustrated an additional 85 books for children.

How was this created?
Dedicated in 1997, Peter and Willie was commissioned as part of the design for this playground by the Prospect Park Alliance to inspire imaginative play, and was funded by the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. It was a recipient of a New York City Art Commission Award for Design Excellence, and in 2016 was named by United for Libraries an honorary Literary Landmark.

Sculptor Otto Neals transformed Keats’ characters into an artwork for children to play on and around. Born in 1930 in South Carolina and raised in Brooklyn, he is a largely self-taught painter, printmaker and sculptor. Neals was the long-time head illustrator for the Brooklyn General Postal Service, and the post office at Cadman Plaza was home to his wood carving, Spirit of ‘76, crafted from an oak postal table. His public art can be seen throughout New York City, including bronze reliefs on 135th Street marking the Harlem Walk of Fame, a mural at Kings County Hospital Center, and a bronze sculpture for the Brooklyn Children’s Center.

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  • Two figures and chair on a natural boulder, mosaic play surface
  • Two figures and chair on a natural boulder, mosaic play surface
  • Two figures and chair on a natural boulder, mosaic play surface

Peter & Willie Details

  • Location: Imagination Playground, Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road
  • Sculptor: Otto Neals
  • Description: Two figures and chair on a natural boulder, mosaic play surface
  • Materials: Figures--bronze; boulder--basalt; play surface--ceramic
  • Dimensions: boulder = approx. w. 9' x d. 4'
  • Cast: 1997
  • Dedicated: June 20, 1997
  • Foundry: Bedi-Makky Art Foundry, 227 India Street Greenpoint, Brooklyn
  • Donor: Ezra Jack Keats Foundation (sculpture only)

Please note, the NAME field includes a primary designation as well as alternate namingsoften in common or popular usage. The DEDICATED field refers to the most recent dedication, most often, butnot necessarily the original dedication date. If the monument did not have a formal dedication, the yearlisted reflects the date of installation.

For more information, please contact Art & Antiquities at (212) 360-8163

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