Through the years the St. Agnes Library has featured many local artist’s exhibitions. It has become something our patrons look forward to seeing with each visit. With our temporary closure due to COVID-19, we want to share artists' work so that everyone can experience some beauty in their life.

From photographer John Mooney:

I’ve lived in New York my whole life. I grew up in Queens, lived on the Upper East Side and, after getting married, moved to the Upper West Side.

I have a love-hate relationship with New York. The city drives me crazy, and I find myself using vast reserves of energy to tune out much of the city’s stimuli. I hear fire trucks go screaming in every direction every day as if the city got hit by a meteor and we’re all engulfed in flames. Breakdancers pop and lock inches from my face while I ride the C train. After I get off the train, I get accosted by clipboard-holding college students who want me to donate to their resume-padding cause. I pretend to be on my cell phone just as they’re approaching me with their earnestness and smiles and they get the point that I’m not interested.

Tuning out has made me miss so much. There are timeless, endless stories that are everywhere. I started taking photos with my phone so that I could once again tune in. Tune in to all the beauty and wonder that’s invisible. It’s invisible because I haven’t been paying attention. I run here and there checking boxes thinking I’m accomplishing something but I’m not; there’s always going to be a box to check, and I’m not seeing the magic radiating out of the ordinary. I think I’m starting to, though.

These are photos taken in New York and Cape Cod. I have homes in both places—the best of both worlds, you might say. I’m grateful I get to live in both places. I’m grateful to have paused in both places. Doing so, I’ve seen the magic in the ordinary. I’m starting to see it more and more lately. More and more I’m starting to believe that nothing is ordinary...it’s all magic.

The artist, John Mooney, owns the copyright to all the images shown in this blog post.

Suggested Reading

• Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote
• The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
• Chelsea Girls: A Novel by Eileen Myles
• Empire Falls by Richard Russo
• Finest Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman
• The Ground Beneath Her Feet by Salman Rushdie
• History Preserved: A Guide to New York City Landmarks and Historic Districts by Harmon H. Goldstone and Martha Dalrymple
• Last Exit to Brooklyn by Hubert Selby Jr.
• Literary Landmarks of New York: The Book Lover's Guide to the Homes and Haunts of World Famous Writers
• The Martha's Vineyard Cookbook: Over 250 Recipes and Lore From a Bountiful Island by Louise Tate King and Jean Stewart Wexler
• Moby Dick by Herman Melville
• New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
• New York City Landmarks by Jake Rajs
• NFT: Not For Tourists Guide to New York City
• The Outer Beach: A Thousand-Mile Walk on Cape Cod's Atlantic Shore by Robert Finch
• The Other Place by Sharr White
• The Outermost House: A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod by Henry Beston
• Pop Culture New York City: The Ultimate Location Finder by Bob Egan
• The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith
• Saving Place: 50 Years of New York City Landmarks edited by Donald Albrecht and Andrew S. Dolkart with Seri Worden
• She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb
• Too Much Sun by Nicky Silver
• Up in the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell
• A Year By the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman by Joan Anderson