Why Jane’s Carousel Offers the Most Photographed Skyline Views in Brooklyn
When the carousel arrived in Brooklyn, the animals were caked beneath up to ten thick coats of cheap commercial enamel. Park operators in Ohio had routinely slathered industrial gloss over original details to keep the figures weather-resistant, obliterating the intricate musculature and fine floral carvings executed by master artisans John Zalar and Frank Carretta.
Jane Walentas, a trained artist and former advertising art director, rejected the idea of outsourcing the restoration to commercial workshops that would sand down the surfaces. Instead, she established an on-site conservation studio inside DUMBO. Working alongside skilled woodworkers, she employed surgical scalpels, dental scrapers, and solvent swabs to peel back decades of paint layer by microscopic layer.
The work demanded uncompromising patience. Stripping a single horse often required months of labor. Once the researchers uncovered the original 1922 factory color palette, Walentas mixed custom oil pigments to match the historical formulas precisely. She restored the harnesses with genuine gold and palladium leaf, reproduced cracked structural joints using seasoned basswood, and refurbished the 1,200 incandescent light bulbs outlining the ride’s sweeps and rounding boards. By the time the restoration concluded in 2011, the team had spent roughly $15 million in personal capital to bring forty-eight horses, two chariots, and a vintage Wurlitzer 153 band organ back to pristine operational condition.
