Overall Winner of Greenbelt Call-to-Artists Announced

The Greenbelt’s newest trail stewardship initiative, the Greenbelt Conservation Corps, recently ran an Island-wide Call-to-Artists to find the perfect logo to brand our gear!  We got a great response from local artists, and we are so thankful to all of them for their unique and original designs.

The Overall winner of our contest, whose design will brand our GCC gear for years to come, is Mr. Joseph Pentangelo.  We wanted to share some information about who Joseph is, and gain some insight into the background of the person who created the winning design!

“Joseph Pentangelo is a linguist, folklorist, and nature-enthusiast who loves walking in the Greenbelt. This year, he earned a PhD in Linguistics and a graduate certificate in Medieval Studies from the Graduate Center, CUNY. He is a Teaching & Learning Collaboratory Fellow with the Macaulay Honors College, and he teaches courses in linguistics at the College of Staten Island.

Earlier this year, he contributed an article to Voices: The Journal of New York Folklore about some mysterious tree carvings found near the blue trail in Blood Root Valley. These carvings, dated to the early 1930s and signed by someone named “W. Dixon,” were likely made by an employee of Seaview Hospital. You can read more about these carvings at Joseph’s website. His writing has also appeared in Folklore, English Language & Linguistics, Language Documentation & Description, Names, Notes & Queries, and Cricket.

Raised in Clifton, he now lives in Westerleigh with his wife, Rebecca, and their cat, Babycat. In addition to the Greenbelt Conservation Corps logo, Joseph also designed the logo for the Native Plant Society of Staten Island.”

HUGE Congratulations to Mr. Pentangelo, and thanks again for entering your art into our contest.  We will be so proud to wear your design on our gear!