Groundswell Mural Goes Up in Jackson Heights

The folks over at Groundswell contacted me last week, advising that the start of their 2014 schedule of mural painting was at hand. Their list of projects spanned three boroughs, with murals being created in Queens’s South Jamaica and Jackson Heights, over in Brooklyn’s Brownsville, Bushwick, and Greenpoint, and a couple of installations were even happening up in the Boogie down Bronx as well.

I opted to visit the Jackson Heights project, which was set to occur on the wall of a supermarket found at 34-20 Junction Boulevard. The actual mural project is on 34th Road, which is between 34th and 35th avenues.

From groundswellmural.org:

Groundswell brings together artists, youth, and community organizations to use art as a tool for social change for a more just and equitable world. Our projects beautify neighborhoods, engage youth in societal and personal transformation, and give expression to ideas and perspectives that are underrepresented in the public dialogue.

More after the jump…

When I arrived, the kids had just gotten started painting, filling in an outline which was already in place.

As Vision Zero gains momentum, Groundswell teen muralists will collaborate with the New York City Department of Transportation to educate New Yorkers through public art about the prevention of Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). The mural will promote the important role all members of the community have to play in stopping DWI and prepare youth participants with DWI deterrence strategies with the potential to save lives.

These two folks are Olivia Fu and Angel Garcia, the co-lead artists on the project. They were overseeing the painting, and running around helping the community members and kids who were executing their design.

Community Partners:
Food Bazaar Supermarket on Junction Boulevard and the New York City Department of Transportation

Location:
34-20 Junction Boulevard, Jackson Heights, NY 11372
Co-Lead Artist: Angel Garcia
Co-Lead Artist: Olivia Fu

Public Design Sharing:
July 23rd, 2-4pm at wall location.
Community Painting Day: July 31st, 10am-3pm at wall location.
Dedication: September 3rd, 11am-12pm at wall location.

A fellow named Rolland was holding this brush, and he was making very good time filling in the panes of color.

Olivia Fu was occupied mixing paints for the kids working on the wall, and everytime I turned around, she was wrist deep in a bucket of color.

The mural in Jackson Heights advocates against “DWI,” or Driving While Intoxicated, and is connected to the “Vision Zero” initiative which municipal officialdom is currently attempting to enact and enforce.

These were a really nice bunch of kids and young adults, by the way. They were really patient about me photographing them, while they worked in the hot sun on a quite humid morning last Friday. The sun was so strong, in fact, that you’ll notice the reflected light streaming off of the wet wall and creating theatrical lighting on them, as seen above.

Most Groundswell youth attend New York City public schools and come from low-income or working-class families. Annually, up to 800 young people, primarily aged 14 to 21, participate. Our participants are motivated to join our programs by public art’s connection to graffiti and street culture, to make new friends, express themselves, develop art skills, and work collaboratively.

As mentioned, they had just gotten started when I marched over from Astoria with the camera and started shooting.

Major financial support for Groundswell’s 2014 Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) is contributed by Altman Foundation, Barclays / Brooklyn Nets, Catskill Watershed Corporation, Charles Lawrence Keith and Clara Miller Foundation, David Rockefeller Fund, Dedalus Foundation, EILEEN FISHER, Ethel and W. George Kennedy Family Foundation, Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, Irene B. Wolt Lifetime Trust, Lambent Foundation, M&T Bank, Pinkerton Foundation, Variety The Children’s Charity, and William Randolph Hearst Foundations, in addition to numerous individuals.

SLI is made possible in part by public funds administered by the National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Office of Public Safety, New York City Department of Youth and Community Development Summer Youth Employment Program, New York City Department of Education, and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Groundswell is grateful to the Office of the Mayor of New York City; the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President; New York State Assembly Member Joseph Lentol; and New York City Council Members Brad Lander, Stephen Levin, Carlos Menchaca, and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

Ms. Fu was kind enough to send along the master design for the mural project, which can be perused in a somewhat larger incarnation by clicking the image — it will open in a new window.

Newtown Creek Alliance Historian Mitch Waxman lives in Astoria and blogs at Newtown Pentacle.