Groundswell and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) designed the Traffic Safety Sign Residency Program to engage public school students in exploring traffic safety information through the creation of original street signs. Signs designed collaboratively by students at each of our partner schools are digitally rendered by Groundswell artists, fabricated by NYC DOT’s Sign Shop, and temporarily installed in local locations students identify as in need of traffic signage. Through this program, students learn how signs and symbols can work to communicate ideas and explore visual art techniques to develop graphic images. These signs then help increase safety awareness and prevent accidents in locations around each school community. For their safety sign, PS 161 students urged pedestrians to slow down while crossing the street in order to look for oncoming traffic.

Groundswell attended the 2007 Farm Aid Concert, an annual benefit to promote and provide resources for the work of family farmers. Throughout the day, artists Eduardo Rabel and Clare Herron worked with concertgoers to collaboratively create a pair of banners exploring the idea of "home grown." The concertgoers added in details that spoke to them; they painted everything from dots to flowers to heartfelt messages. The result is a visually energetic piece that speaks to the collaboration and unity found in family farmer circles.

Groundswell and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) designed the Traffic Safety Sign Residency Program to engage public school students in exploring traffic safety information through the creation of original street signs. Signs designed collaboratively by students at each of our partner schools are digitally rendered by Groundswell artists, fabricated by NYC DOT’s Sign Shop, and temporarily installed in local locations students identify as in need of traffic signage. Through this program, students learn how signs and symbols can work to communicate ideas and explore visual art techniques to develop graphic images. These signs then help increase safety awareness and prevent accidents in locations around each school community. With their design, PS 277 students asked both for no U-turns from drivers and for pedestrians to be safe while crossing the street.

Groundswell and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) designed the Traffic Safety Sign Residency Program to engage public school students in exploring traffic safety information through the creation of original street signs. Signs designed collaboratively by students at each of our partner schools are digitally rendered by Groundswell artists, fabricated by NYC DOT’s Sign Shop, and temporarily installed in local locations students identify as in need of traffic signage. Through this program, students learn how signs and symbols can work to communicate ideas and explore visual art techniques to develop graphic images. These signs then help increase safety awareness and prevent accidents in locations around each school community. The PS 9 sign design artistically shows what crossing the street to the school looks like and asks pedestrians to be more cautious.

Groundswell and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) designed the Traffic Safety Sign Residency Program to engage public school students in exploring traffic safety information through the creation of original street signs. Signs designed collaboratively by students at each of our partner schools are digitally rendered by Groundswell artists, fabricated by NYC DOT’s Sign Shop, and temporarily installed in local locations students identify as in need of traffic signage. Through this program, students learn how signs and symbols can work to communicate ideas and explore visual art techniques to develop graphic images. These signs then help increase safety awareness and prevent accidents in locations around each school community. Inspired by the game Monopoly, PS 64’s safety sign cleverly uses the board layout to represent many popular New York City locations, as well as important safety measures when travelling around the City.

Groundswell and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) designed the Traffic Safety Sign Residency Program to engage public school students in exploring traffic safety information through the creation of original street signs. Signs designed collaboratively by students at each of our partner schools are digitally rendered by Groundswell artists, fabricated by NYC DOT’s Sign Shop, and temporarily installed in local locations students identify as in need of traffic signage. Through this program, students learn how signs and symbols can work to communicate ideas and explore visual art techniques to develop graphic images. These signs then help increase safety awareness and prevent accidents in locations around each school community. With the famous Flushing Meadows-Corona Park landmarks in the background, the PS 19 design features “Safety Is The Way” in seven different languages.

Youth participating in Groundswell’s Summer Leadership Institute created a large-scale mural and developed imagery for a community organizing campaign to reclaim neighborhood streets from sustained traffic-related deaths in Downtown Brooklyn. This campaign, led by Transportation Alternatives, included the creation of “Not One More Death,” a safety pledge/sticker campaign, and the development of a series of original traffic safety signs.“Not One More Death” memorializes three children who were killed by cars along 3rd Avenue. In the mural, a silhouette of an anonymous figure is also present, holding a sign which reads, “Not One More Death.” The combined efforts of the community organizing campaign led to a watershed dedication ceremony in August 2007. Artists, activists, politicians, victims’ relatives, and a New York City Department of Transportation representative all took to the podium under the mural to proclaim “Not One More Death.” DOT Senior Policy Advisor Jon Orcutt commended the mural and announced that construction on traffic calming measures had begun on the 4th Avenue corridor and would be begin the following year along 3rd Avenue. He indicated that community organizing efforts were directly involved in making these changes happen. This collaboration was a major accomplishment for Transportation Alternatives and neighborhood activists, and reinforced the power of art as a tool for social change.

Groundswell and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) designed the Traffic Safety Sign Residency Program to engage public school students in exploring traffic safety information through the creation of original street signs. Signs designed collaboratively by students at each of our partner schools are digitally rendered by Groundswell artists, fabricated by NYC DOT’s Sign Shop, and temporarily installed in local locations students identify as in need of traffic signage. Through this program, students learn how signs and symbols can work to communicate ideas and explore visual art techniques to develop graphic images. These signs then help increase safety awareness and prevent accidents in locations around each school community. The design from PS 21 students uses a bold yellow, black, and red color scheme to convey the importance of getting a driver’s attention.

Groundswell and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) designed the Traffic Safety Sign Residency Program to engage public school students in exploring traffic safety information through the creation of original street signs. Signs designed collaboratively by students at each of our partner schools are digitally rendered by Groundswell artists, fabricated by NYC DOT’s Sign Shop, and temporarily installed in local locations students identify as in need of traffic signage. Through this program, students learn how signs and symbols can work to communicate ideas and explore visual art techniques to develop graphic images. These signs then help increase safety awareness and prevent accidents in locations around each school community. For their design, students from PS 380 included “Stop and Look Before You Cross” in four different languages: English, Hebrew, Spanish, and pictograms.

“The Spirit of Rhythm” is located in the music wing of Brooklyn High School of the Arts. A group of art and music students participated in the creation of the mural by contributing drawings and suggestions for the design. The mural’s theme is music, with a focus on percussion instruments. The students included imagery that reflects traditional instruments and ways in which music is heard. The “spirits” of rhythm emerge from a gramophone as they play instruments, while a drummer taps his drumsticks on the record’s surface. An iPod is attached to the arm of the gramophone as if it is the needle that will play the record. The background features sound words that the students felt represented percussion instruments.