“A Better Bronx” was created in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation and Majora Carter Group and highlights the importance of a sustainable environment to a waterfront community. Located at the entrance to Hunts Point Riverside Park, on the side of youth development organization Rocking the Boat, “A Better Bronx” encourages sustainable industry in an area that was once home to one of the most blighted waterways in the United States. The mural celebrates all that the community has achieved to gain access to and transform the Bronx River. The design’s focal point is a series of vignettes showing Hunts Point residents enjoying a beautiful, green park on the waterfront. The mural also provides a platform to educate the community about the many transformative transportation initiatives planned for the area. “A Better Bronx” was completed as part of StreetWise: Hunts Point, a two-year campaign to engage community members in identifying and prioritizing transportation and related-environmental concerns in their South Bronx community.

“Here Goes Something” uncovers the rich hidden history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and engages passersby in the thriving activity taking place today. The work of 16 youth participants in our 2012 Summer Leadership Institute completes the mural first begun in spring 2012 by elementary school students from PS 307. Together, the two mural sections visually transform a monumental wall along the outside of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and introduce viewers to the legacy and innovation of this modern industrial park - from the Revolutionary War to the revolution in jobs and industry happening in New York City right now. During the mural design process, Groundswell’s youth artists conducted intensive archival research and gathered oral histories from community members and workers who shaped the Yard over time and who now are creating its future. “Here Goes Something” illustrates a timeline of the Navy Yard and incorporates influences from social realism, WPA-era murals, and street art. Key moments in the Navy Yard’s history are presented through a series of vignettes visually connected by a motif of ship portholes. The mural culminates in a vision of a bright economic future based on sustainable industry.

“For Those Who Speak and Those Who Have Yet To Speak” celebrates women as international community through representations of global struggles of and progress by women. During an intensive afterschool research phase, the Voices Her’d Visionaries team investigated the rise of women’s rights movements across the globe. They also interviewed New York City activists to better understand women’s organizing efforts on a local level. The finished design celebrates female strength and solidarity through visual representations of these struggles. Included in the mural is a tribute to the CoMadres of El Salvador, a human rights group founded to raise awareness of the disappearances and murders committed during the country’s civil war. Also included are Burmese opposition leader and Noble Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and Peggielene Bartels, known informally as King Peggy, renowned as the first female chief chosen of the Ghanaian village of Otuam.

“Yesterday I Was ____, Today I Am ____, Tomorrow I'll Be ____.” is installed in Brownsville, Brooklyn, on a monumental wall overlooking a community garden. The mural asks Brownsville residents to consider the past, present, and future of the community’s identity, and engages them in a continued conversation. A youth mural team made up exclusively of young men, over half of whom had a history with the juvenile justice system, came together during an intensive afterschool session to explore a topic for a large-scale summer mural project. Through a series of guided discussions and research opportunities, the team responded to the theme “the male identity, stereotypes, and role models." They then visited the Brooklyn Museum to learn more about contemporary artists and art techniques. Inspired by the artwork viewed, particularly the text-based work of contemporary artists Hank Willis Thomas and Barbara Kruger, the young men began to explore their theme through the creation of imagery for a large-scale mural. Deliberately leaving its message incomplete, the all-male mural team chose to address the topic of male identity while leaving room for receptivity, reflection, and transformation. The text-based mural image reads, "Yesterday I was _____, today I am _____, tomorrow I'll be ______.," a proclamation that is a statement and a question at the same time. It is bold and affirmative, yet beckons a response. The slogan is accompanied by what the group of young men consider a symbol of personal identity - a hand - expanding the analogy to say "I know these streets like the back of my hand," to capture the identity of the community as well. Underlying credits express qualities the youth artists would like to see more of in the community, each other, and themselves. 

Lead Artist Joe Matunis and his student muralists from El Puente Academy worked with Woodhull doctors, staff, and patients to design and paint a mural to make children more comfortable during their hospital stay. The mural transforms the medical process into a fanciful fable to help children encountering it for the first time. It features animals such as frogs, rabbits, and elephants walking around and performing the activities which happen each day at the hospital. For example, the process of having a broken bone cast, a particularly frightening procedure for a child, is shown in a friendly and comforting style to help ease the nervousness of a doctor’s visit. The whimsy of the piece takes influence from children’s books, which are always filled with bright colors, fun shapes, and funny animals. The panels are installed permanently at Woodhull's renovated pediatric ward.

This mural was created for the Children's Grove Park in Bushwick, a park built by members of Make the Road by Walking/Se Hace el Camino al Andar for all residents of the neighborhood to enjoy. Make the Road by Walking is dedicated to fighting injustice on behalf of immigrant communities through education, legal and support services, and community organizing. The mural team began its research by first reaching out to various organizations that are members of Make the Road by Walking. For example, the youth artists interviewed representatives of G.L.O.B.E., a collective that fights for LGBT rights and presents educational programs s in schools and the community to bring issues such as homophobia to light. The mural team also wanted to honor the son of the owner of the wall, Marc Del Pilar, whose life was lost in a violent incident in 1994. During the mural design process, the young people learned more about issues of economic oppression, sweat shop labor, and immigrants' rights facing the local community. The team combined the many social justice issues addressed to create a finished mural that not only raises awareness of these issues but celebrats the tremendous progress made by community members toward making Bushwick a more livable, unified place to live.

“Making A Difference” was created as part of a series of murals on the theme of Peace and Healing created in the aftermath of the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001. As part of this initiative, Groundswell approached the Washington Avenue Merchants Association, Inc. to collaborate on a mural that would express the vitality of the local community as well as express post-September 11th sentiments. Youth participants researched the Crown Heights community, using the resources of the the Brooklyn Public Library, and also talked with members of the community. The Director of the Washington Avenue Merchants Association introduced participants to members of the merchants association and other local business owners. The youth artists decided to illustrate the themes of peace and community vitality using images of themselves and portraits of the individuals they had interviewed. They also included a motif of crows, a nod to the historical name of the community; Crown Heights was once known as Crow Hill. The mural not only contributed to city-wide healing efforts after the tragedy of September 11 but also helped further Groundswell’s goal to create a mural corridor along Washington Avenue.

Groundswell, Artmakers Inc, and the Lower East Side People's Federal Credit Union teamed up to create a mural to honor the memory of Eva Cockcroft and celebrate community mural making in New York from the 1970's through the present and into the future. The mural commemorates the work of famous muralist Eva Cockcroft, author of the La Lucha Mural series and many murals adorning Lower East Side buildings. Through her work, Cockcroft depicted the struggle and history of this community of immigrants as it evolved from urban decay in the late 1970's to a revival in the 1990’s. “La Lucha Continua: Homage to Eva Cockcroft,” a collectively designed and painted mural, contains elements of the work of Cockcroft while referencing the history of the Loisaida community and the Credit Union's contribution to the economic development of the neighborhood. The Lower East Side still remains one of the most financially underserved areas in New York City.

“Seeds of the Future” addresses environmental justice issues in Sunset Park, issues that young activists from UPROSE continue to work tirelessly to change. The mural team included teen artists of Chinese, Puerto Rican, Arabic, Mexican, and Italian descent, representing the many diverse communities living in Sunset Park. Throughout the intensive mural design process, the seven youth artists deepened their collaboration skills. Together, they developed a final design that illustrates environmental concerns in Sunset Park and envisions a more hopeful and sustainable future for the community. The mural calls attention to serious environmental concerns in the area, including brownfields and a lack of green space, while inspiring hope of healing the environment. The mural became a source of pride for the youth participants, as an artwork that both beautifies the neighborhood and informed the community about important issues affecting the youth artists’ lives.  

The walls of many neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn, including Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and East New York, are adorned with Rest in Peace murals which honor individuals lost too soon. As a special initiative completed as part of our annual Summer Leadership Institute, Groundswell hired a team of nine teenagers from some of these neighborhoods to investigate the stories behind the Rest in Peace murals. These youth artists were charged with interviewing artists, family and friends of the memorialized individuals, and urban art experts. The team first learned interview and photography techniques. They then went to several Brooklyn neighborhoods, including Bushwick, Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Sunset Park, and Brownsville, to speak to some of the artists who painted the murals, and the family and friends of the people memorialized. The team created an exhibition of its work, entitled “Gone But Not Forgotten.” The exhibition traveled to three separate venues in Brooklyn and generated substantial press coverage. The team was interviewed by several newspapers and appeared live on WBAI radio. They also participated in a video conference at Hunter College with youth from the Chicago Historical Society.