Space Shuttle Memorial with Squid

Whitestone, New York

Outside P.S. 193 is a relatively well-made miniature space shuttle model dedicated to the astronauts lost in the 1986 Challenger disaster. After the 2003 Columbia disaster, a plaque was added with the names of its astronauts as well.

In an odd juxtaposition, the Shuttle angles heavenward in front of a mural, also from 2003, by Karen Fitzgerald (with student ideas), titled "Discovery of Dreams." Supposedly based on poetry by Mary Oliver and Richard Lewis, it features a floating squid and electrical plug, sharing space with another Shuttle and the butt-end view of a dinosaur, all superimposed over what appears to be a giant snail with the head of a tropical Toucan bird.

The trippy mural was painted to celebrate the school's 50th birthday.