Led by artist Eva Melas, this workshop explores the important role ships played in the Battle of Brooklyn. In the summer of 1776, Red Hook residents could see the imposing fleet of more than 400 British ships bearing down on Brooklyn. Gen. George Washington later rounded up humble vessels to make his retreat to Manhattan from Brooklyn Heights.

Participants in this family workshop will  make their own improvised armada from objects found in Brooklyn today, such as coffee cups and cardboard packaging. Weather permitting, the toy boats will be test launched from the deck of the Waterfront Museum barge. 

This workshop is part the Battle Pass Project, a Proteus Gowanus initiative exploring ideas of conflict, history and memory by marking sites of the Battle of Brooklyn. This epic battle, sometimes forgotten in the very neighborhoods where it occurred, was the largest confrontation of the Revolutionary War. The Battle Pass Project presents a series of multimedia, interdisciplinary installations, performances and family workshops. All are free.