Theresa Kasun and Santa Claus Photo: Juliet Linderman

Who Paints The Windows in Wburg?

Nothing gets the nabe in the holiday spirit like window displays. Toy shops haul out their best train sets, stuffed reindeers and sign posts directing elated children toward the North Pole; 99 cent stores lining Manhattan Avenue bring out their best wrapping paper, ribbon and assorted strands of frosted lights; cafes and restaurants string up garlands of berries and mistletoe to inspire even the most jaded of holiday diners. And in Williamsburg, the windows of some of our favorite neighborhood establishments are transformed into pieces of art, thanks to Theresa Kasun, who has quietly painted holiday murals on North Brooklyn storefronts for the past twenty years.

Kasun started painting holiday windows on the suggestion of a close friend and longtime Williamsburg resident, who convinced the Fortunato brothers to let Kasun take to their panes with a paintbrush.

“My friend said to them, ‘Theresa is a painter! She studied the Renaissance! She’s Italian! She should paint your window display! And that’s how it all began.”

Kasun, a classically trained artist, paints each window—be it that of famous Fortunato’s or Sal’s pizzeria—with precision, case and tremendous concentration, and chooses a different theme each year. Painting holiday windows is a perfect marriage of two of Kasun’s greatest loves: art and Christmas.

“When I was at art school in Kansas City, my apartment was the Christmas apartment,” Kasun said, a scarf wrapped cozily around her neck and splotches of black acrylic paint splattered on her hands. “We had three Christmas trees up all year round. I absolutely love Christmas.”
Another thing Kasun feels passionately about is her neighborhood. Williamsburg, she says, is a true community: She has known Dominic, the owner of Sal’s pizzeria, whom Kasun considers part of her extended family, since moving into the North Brooklyn. According to Kasun, every Christmas he instructs her to “work her magic.”

And work her magic she does: Her window displays offer passersby views of snowmen and children playing, dogs and cats, evergreen trees, candy canes—the Christmas works. Her display on the windows of Fortunato’s is a Jingle Bell Rock theme, and features a parade of musicians, based on Kasun’s friends in real life: a Brooklyn-based band called Atomic Shotgun.
Mostly though, painting window displays allows Kasun to instill a love of Christmas in the Williamsburg residents who see them.

“The window displays allow me to bring my love and excitement about Christmas to the community,” she said. “Walking by something unique might bring some of that Christmas joy. The holidays can be a tough time for some people. This is a tight-knit community.”

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