The Clifford Place FFA Gallery
Many artists found refuge in the predominantly Polish neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where Teresa and Brian McMahon were living. Teresa Chmura, herself a Polish immigrant, owned and operated a delicatessen. Brian moved to Greenpoint in 1983, where he located his architectural design-build business. They met and married the following year. When renovating a row house, they decided to create a public gallery on their first floor for their own enjoyment and as a showcase for the community.
They curated a number of themed exhibits and one-man shows at their FFA Gallery, some of which featured Polish artists, but there were also shows of emerging local artists. Participating artists could sell their work directly to the public, with no commission charged. Over a period of several years, the McMahon’s managed to put together a modest personal collection either by purchasing art or having it presented by artists who appreciated being shown in the gallery. In 1986, the McMahon’s commissioned Andrrzej Czeczot, a well known artist in Poland, and a newcomer to Greenpoint, to do a show portraying their community. The exhibit was well received in the New York Times and other media, and the gallery quickly became a social hub for Polish artists in the NewYork area. Over the next several years the McMahon’s had the extraordinary privilege of exhibiting wor working with some of the most important polish artists from these turbulent times, including Jan Sawka, Wiktor Sadowski, and Allan Rzepka. In addition to acquiring a number or original art works from the artists, the McMahon’s also collected over 400 Polish posters which have never been exhibited,
Thirty-five years later, the McMahon’s are pleased to display a portion of their art collection which shows the remarkable talents of Polish Artists and documents their struggles to find an audience on two continents.
Clifford Place Collection 