As part of Groundswell’s Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) 2008, artists Alex Pimienta and Jessica Poplawski worked with a team of youth to create a colorful mural celebrating the people, changing communities, and future of Coney Island. The mural features images of Coney Island landmarks surrounded by the richness and diversity of the community. The boardwalk and shore make up the right half of the piece, signifying the importance of the geographical location to Coney Island’s vitality. Street signs read “welcome” and note important street names near the beach. There is a child playing and a mother in traditional clothes carrying her child. Two boys play basketball while an artist paints the local sights and a couple enjoys a quiet moment. Finally, a scene depicts a child studying science. This signifies the Coney Island of the future, when children of the neighborhood will grow to be tomorrow’s leaders.

“Eco Nova” is a large-scale abstraction of form and color. The bold choice of colors and shapes transforms the side entranceway of PS 503, making it a more inviting place for both the students and the residents on the block. The mural design is inspired by microscopic organisms from Ernst Haeckel’s scientific illustrations, combined with the mural team’s sketches from a field trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. The design is executed in a graphic, pattern-like composition with attention to positive/negative space through layering of the imagery. Plants and organisms are titled with their Latin names, encouraging the viewer to read more deeply into the mural. During the fabrication process, the mural unknowingly opened up a provocative conversation about the history of language. Even if passers-by did not immediately recognize the language as Latin, they were intrigued by the plant names’ similarity to words in Spanish and Italian. The use of color and composition transformed the space, and the team enjoyed an overwhelmingly positive response from the community to its abstract representation of natural forms.

As part of our Summer Leadership Institute 2008, Groundswell continued our ongoing partnership with The Trust for Public Land (TPL) to create a large-scale mural as part of TPL’s redesign of PS 221’s playground in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The Trust for Public Land re-designs and transforms run-down or underused public spaces in New York, turning them into parks that become community assets. “Reaching New Heights” addresses the importance of creating accessible green spaces in the city. The bio-diversity depicted in the mural reflects the diversity of Crown Heights as a community. The mural celebrates nature and highlights the importance of green spaces in heavily built-up urban areas. In the mural, the imagery of trees, plants, and birds also showcases nature as a metaphor for a vision of the communities of Crown Heights living in harmony and balance. The panoramic canvas is designed in such a way that the first half of the 160-foot wall features the backs of the buildings flanking the courtyard. This area is overcast by stormy clouds. The second half features a park where the sky is clear with glistening sun rays.

“Timeless Rhythm,” Groundswell’s first mosaic bench project, was created in partnership with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the Hugh Gilroy Senior Center in the historic Weeksville area of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The team designed four benches, adjacent to the “Weeksville Time Train” mural painted the previous summer by Groundswell youth. The design was inspired by the music enjoyed by the community’s senior citizens throughout their lives, including blues, gospel, and jazz. The youth artists experimented with color and contrast to create a sense of direction and movement. Different shapes present in the design are moved through space by the rhythm that the colors create. Throughout the project, the mural team focused on designing benches that would be comfortable to sit on as well as creating imagery that the senior citizens would like to see. The seniors were delighted with the benches and warmly expressed their gratitude. All attended a dedication ceremony, held in late spring to mark the enhancement of the senior center through the addition of the benches.

In 2008, Groundswell collaborated with the New York City Department of Transportation and the Office of the Mayor to create “New York City is a Rollercoaster.” The team of muralists collectively designed a lively image to transform and revitalize the entrance way to a 900-foot-long subway underpass in Washington Heights. The mural presents the Number 1 train as New York’s rollercoaster, zooming around The Cloisters, past city workers, and over the George Washington Bridge. In August, the mural was officially unveiled by Mayor Bloomberg, who enthused that, "This is a wonderful example of how community members, City government, and the nonprofit sector can come together to help beautify a neighborhood and make New York City a better place to live. Public art has a way of transforming the landscape, creating dialogue, and bringing people together, and this mural has turned an underground tunnel into a beautiful work of art that the community can be proud of."

“Informed, Empowered” was created in 2008 as part of Groundswell’s Summer Leadership Institute by a group of young women participating in our Voices Her’d Visionaries program. During a spring seminar, Groundswell youth who exhibited leadership potential were invited to discuss several issues pertaining to young women in the world today. Many of the young artists wanted to address the issue of military recruiting and the targeting of youth in low-income areas. As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act 2001, military recruiters have access to high school students’ personal contact information, enabling them to approach young people not only in their schools but also within their own homes. Using a visual style inspired by wartime propaganda posters from around the world, the mural portrays three strong young women poised in classic military poses, armed not with violent weapons but with tools of creation and education. The mural attracted a great deal of interest from both the public and news outlets and will continue to make a bold statement for years to come.

In the spring of 2008, Groundswell partnered with the New York City Department of Correction to create “Incarcerated Minds,” a mural designed by students at the Austin H. MacCormick Island Academy High School on Rikers Island Correctional Facility. The mural depicts a group of inmates in a dormitory setting, with each one dreaming of life outside the jail. The team engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the artists throughout the process and drew many connections between themselves and the imagery of the mural. All realized that the mural made a significant impact on their living area. “Incarcerated Minds” generated enthusiasm from inmates, correction officers, the jail administration, and the high school staff. Principal Frank Dody commented that “the students worked collaboratively and evidenced great pride in the mural they created. The mural project gave students a voice in the jail community, and they learned an important life lesson about the strength of working as a team to create a product. In this case, the product is their message of hope for productive futures.”

As part of our Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) 2008, Groundswell artists worked with a team of youth to create a monumental mural illustrating the New York water cycle. The system of delivery of water from rural New York to New York City is depicted in an effort to make New Yorkers more aware of the preciousness of their water. The allegorical figure of Mother Nature hovers over the two main reservoirs that serve as New York City’s water supply. The Sandhogs, the urban miners who maintain the tunnels which bring water to the city, are shown digging a third water tunnel. Elements of the urban and rural environments are presented together in harmony. Simultaneously, the central image and focal point of the mural encourages viewers to drink tap water in reusable bottles. The dedication ceremony for the finished four story mural brought together youth participants and their families, as well as community members and city officials, including Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Emily Lloyd.

In 2012, the Society of the Citizens of Pozzallo partnered with Groundswell to create a mural honoring Mother Francesca Cabrini. Working through the Catholic Church, Mother Cabrini dedicated her life to helping poor Italian immigrants. During her life, she established over 60 Institutes of Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus throughout the United States, including her first project, an orphanage in New York City. The mural’s location on the side of Arriana Condominium in the heart of Carroll Gardens is significant because of the strong impact of the Italian and Sicilian community on the development of the area. As the neighborhood has grown and changed, this mural helps celebrate the history and legacy of the local community.

Through Groundswell’s Segue program, juvenile offenders worked with artist Jess Poplawski to create a mosaic for the entryway of Casa de los Vecinos, a transitional housing residence for individuals living with mental illness. The mosaic welcomes all to Casa de los Vecinos with a message of hope, health, and home. The design, featuring budding trees with red flowers and fruit, frames the facility’s doorway and accentuates the architecture and moldings of the building on Pitt Street.