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. Students from IS 2 chose to include their school mascot in this reminder that three traffic symbols – a crosswalk hand, red light, and stop sign – all represent the same thing.

Through Groundswell’s Teen Empowerment Mural Apprenticeship (TEMA) program, youth created a series of public sculptural reliefs for Weeksville Houses in Brooklyn. Weeksville is a neighborhood founded by black freedman after the abolition of slavery in New York City. “The Four Cornerstones” represents the activist spirit of Weeksville residents past and present and consists of four permanently installed sculptural reliefs illustrating different aspects of civic involvement. The youth artists, a group of high school students from Weeksville, researched community history and learned elements of drawing and design. They were introduced to the technique of creating sculptural reliefs with Winterstone, a durable synthetic material that has a patina similar in appearance to metals. The reliefs feature portraits of several important community leaders, including Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward, the first Black woman doctor in New York; Maritcha Lyons, a prominent civil rights leader and educator; and Henry Highland Garnet, a leading abolitionist.

This mural tells the story of Weeksville by examining the past, present, and future of this historic area. The mural begins its story of Weeksville’s history with the founding of the free Black community by James Weeks and six other freedmen. These seven founders are represented throughout the painting as pointing figures. The community of Weeksville represents a key period in American history whose legacy is currently being expanded by the research efforts of the Weeksville Heritage Center. The mural is framed by images of two girls, each whom had a hand in discovering important artifacts  in the 1970’s of the historic Hunterfly Houses, which now bear the name of the road that once served as the main throughway leading out to Canarsie from what is now the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn.

Through Groundswell’s Voices Her’d Visionaries program, a team of young women created a large-scale mosaic in response to urban environmental issues. The mosaic also pays tribute to women associated with the earth. The participants began the project by contemplating the notion that all actions are linked, and that this directly connects us, as individuals and communities, to nature. Within the silhouettes are images of female figures from mythology and history that are associated with the earth. The animals and plants were carefully chosen for their symbolic weight. The artists were drawn to elephants because they are revered as symbols of serenity, strength, wisdom, and a deep connection to the earth. The baby elephant represents the future, and the butterflies symbolize the cycle of cause and effect. In addition to addressing international concerns, “Beautiful Migration” uses symbols relevant to the local community. Sunset Park, where the piece is located, is home to a strong immigrant community. The white brick walls represent national borders, and the holes in them represent migration across borders, as does the boat in the river.

As the first mural in Groundswell's Making His'tory series, “Déjà Vu: Which Path Will You Choose?” explores the particular challenges faced by teenage boys and young men in the East Harlem community. The young men participating in the program researched and discussed challenges such as gangs, drugs, violence, police harassment, incarceration, and lack of employment opportunity. They also discussed possible solutions to these problems, including education, supportive families, sports, arts, religious faith, and cultural and historical awareness. The final mural design depicts a teenage boy in the middle of a path that leads up towards his future. On one side is a dangerous life, while the other side holds opportunity. He must move forward to achieve his dreams. Over four stories tall, the mural’s bright colors, dynamic composition, and bold symbolism invite the attention and admiration of all who pass by. The mural's presence also motivated Hope Community to transform the community garden adjacent to it, planting new flowers, trimming overgrown tree branches, and creating a welcoming space which is ideal for contemplating the mural and its message of hope.

As one of six projects created through Groundswell’s Summer Leadership Institute (SLI), youth worked with seniors to create a mural at the Hugh Gilroy Senior Center which brings to life Weeksville’s rich African American heritage. Weeksville was founded before the Civil War by seven freedmen and has been a strong voice in civil rights efforts since. The mural team first interviewed Hugh Gilroy residents before designing and painting this monumental mural, which wraps around a courtyard adjacent to the senior center. The design links imagery from the personal stories of Hugh Gilroy residents with imagery from Weeksville’s history. The mural uses portraits to celebrate the individuals who have contributed so much to the neighborhood and African American movements. These portraits remind viewers that these, too, are important faces to remember. The mural also includes references to distinctly African culture, including textile color, palette, and patterns.

In the creation of “One Day,” Groundswell artists collaborated with corporate volunteers from Deloitte to create a mural at the Future Leaders Institute Charter School in Harlem. The mural is called “One Day” because it depicts an individual imagining a hopeful future full of love and happiness, and also because it was painted in one day. Over the course of this one day workshop, the mural was painted on a wall facing the Future Leaders Institute’s newly designed school yard. An older mural existed on the wall, which was created in two sections around a storage container. When the school moved the storage container, a large gap was left in the mural design. Working with volunteers from Deloitte, Groundswell’s artists took the original design from the pre-existing mural and expanded it into an animated dream world based on drawings and ideas from the students.

Youth participating in Groundswell’s afterschool Teen Empowerment Mural Apprenticeship (TEMA) program created a mural for the lobby of Trade Union SEIU 32BJ’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan. SEIU represents workers in the janitorial, cleaning, security, and doorman sectors of employment. In January, TEMA participants met with over 40 rank and file union members and brainstormed ideas for the theme of the mural. The TEMA participants decided to focus on the diversity of the membership and the strength and unity of 32BJ. Inspired by their meeting with union members, the youth artists researched the history of SEIU and began to create a design. The finished work includes vignettes of union members at their jobs as doormen, office cleaners, window cleaners, and janitors. A strong central group of figures symbolizes both the diversity of the membership and the sense of unity and solidarity felt by all union members. The mural was installed in the lobby and dedicated in June with a joyous unveiling attended by youth participants, their family members, and 32BJ members.

“Grasslands” was created during a day-long painting event for the community room of the Grasslands Homeless Shelter in Valhalla, New York. In the interest of uplifting and encouraging residents of the shelter, the mural features a quote by author Maria Robinson. “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anybody can start today and make a new ending.” Since it was created in a single day by volunteers, the artists developed a simple yet engaging design. Three faces are depicted in front of a colorful background, illustrating a smile emerging.

Groundswell artist Christopher Cardinale worked with youth from environmental justice leader UPROSE to develop designs for a series of wrap-around vinyl banners. These banners would be adhered to four hybrid shuttle buses previously purchased through UPROSE's Pollution Reduction Projects for use by and throughout the Sunset Park community. The bus designs feature images related to the community’s concerns about air pollution. The image concepts were developed with the youth and in conjunction with UPROSE's clean air partners, including the Al-Noor School, the Chinese-American Planning Council, and the Marien Heim Senior Center.