New York State Pavilion Paint Project

New York State Pavilion Paint Project

~Who's Who~

Ed Gossett

1) Where were you born and raised? I was born in Fresh Meadows, Queens and spent my teen years in Plainview, L.I.

2) What is your favorite fair or fair-related memory? Favorite memories were taking the Swiss Ride and sitting in a new red Mustang at the Ford Pavilion, playing with all the buttons on the dash, and also going to Rocket Park to see "real" rockets.

3) How did the fair influence you then and how does it today? I'm a sci-fi nut thanks to the Fair.

4) When did you get involved with the paint project and why? I rediscovered, in an old box my parents have, family pictures of us during several trips to the fair. In 2012, while riding my bike in the park carrying a backpack full of maps and pictures, I met Mitch screwing a plaque on the entrance wall to the NYS Pavilion. I showed him my family pictures and maps and told him what I was doing and he invited me to paint when they resumed. This brought my present full circle to my past.

5) What does the NYSP mean to you and what do you hope for its future? I consider the NYS Pavilion sacred ground. This one of a kind structure needs to be brought back to life so that it can live to be useful to future generations of visitors while showing a once in a lifetime history of a Great World’s Fair.

6) What do you do for a living and what (else, besides painting the NYSP) do you do for fun? I work as an Energy Auditor and Construction Manager for the Bed-Stuy Weatherization Assistance Program in Brooklyn, NY. I enjoy riding my recumbent bicycle in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, taking my daughter and dog outdoors to parks to play in and getting together with friends.