1990s

The story of BWAC logo designs starts in the mid-80s, when the group that called themselves the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition began mounting outdoor sculpture exhibitions on federal park land between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. The timing of the introduction of this first-known logo may have coincided with the group filing nonprofit incorporation papers in 1984. Printed evidence of an actual logo appeared on flyers then. It was a circle with the letters “BWAC” angled in the middle, reflected as if in water, immediately below the lettering, as a nod to its waterfront origins. The full name of the organization circled the inner letters. Prior to that time, printed material appears to just spell out the name in regular type.

In 1998, BWAC moved from DUMBO to Red Hook, exhibiting in various buildings on the Red Hook waterfront. In the early 2000s, the organization was granted a permanent home by the O'Connell organization in the bottom two floors at 481 Van Brunt Street.

At this point, the membership had grown to several hundred, but there was a discussion about changing the name to “Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition.” Part of the incentive for the change was to reflect that the organization had members from all over Brooklyn, and inclusion would be a benefit for grant applications. A second logo iteration was created and used in publicity materials. The version of the BWAC logo that replaced “Working” for “Waterfront” was displayed on the second floor front door even up to 2024. However, even though the change was voted on and passed by the members, the organization did not officially change the registered name, and it remains Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition to this day.

Approximately five years passed, and a new logo was created to replace the “Working” version back to “Waterfront.” That third generation logo was used as BWAC's official imprint up until 2024. There was an unofficial celebratory version of the logo to mark the 40th anniversary, which was intended to be temporary.

Around 2019, there was talk of the logo needing a refresh, and several members discussed and drafted ideas for a new logo. The Board of Directors became involved, and input was sought from the membership. Though several designs were considered, none was selected. Then COVID shut down all New York art spaces in mid-March 2020, and the priorities of the organization focused on survival.