Justice Everywhere

  • Around the door to FAC’s new center, a hand holds a ruler which reads, "Dignity, Justice, Equity, and Sustainability," values by which FAC measures its success.
  • A sketch of the initial design. Included is a man breaking the chains that bind his wrists. On the chains can be found the date 2000, the year FAC incorporated Developing Justice, a job training program for formerly incarcerated adults.
  • Smiling at the camera, the youth artists begin adding color to their outlines.
  • The mural features a layer of rich color splashes with black outlines on top.
  • The mural begins with an image of a woman watering a plant, an illustration of FAC’s mission to nurture the community. FAC’s founding date, 1977, is inscribed on the watering can.
  • A megaphone shouts "Injustice everywhere is a threat to justice anywhere," a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which celebrates FAC's Campaigns Department.

Project Description

To celebrate the opening of its new headquarters in 2003, Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) commissioned Groundswell to paint a mural on the adjacent building to help lead visitors from 4th Avenue around the corner to the doors of the new center. Groundswell began research for the mural through a series of focus groups with each of the departments that make up FAC. Each department was asked to propose a representation of its role in the FAC community and present it as a living tableau. Photographs of these tableaus were then used to develop a mural that highlights the many facets of FAC's work. FAC celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2002, and the mural also features a visual timeline of significant organization milestones. For example, a truck license plate in the image reads 1995, a nod to the year FAC incorporated Red Hook on the Road, a program that trains commercial truck drivers and helps them find employment.

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Project Info

Location: 648 Degraw Street Brooklyn, NY 11217
Neighborhood: 
Gowanus


Program: 
Summer Leadership Institute


Theme: 
Justice and Equality


Year: 
2004


Partner(s): 
Fifth Avenue Committee


Lead Artist(s):
Belle Benfield
Amy Sananman


Assistant Artist(s):
Nora Kennedy


Participants: 

 

Fifth Avenue Committee staff and over 100 community residents
Medium: 
Acrylic on Plaster


Dimensions: 20 x 100ft

Fun Facts

Research
30% of Sunset Park’s population is below age of 18.
Fun Fact
In the mural, a pen writes "Far from water I am full of the sound of water.” The writing symbolizes FAC's literacy program for immigrants; the quote is taken from the poem “The City in which I Love You” by Li Young-Lee, himself an Indonesian immigrant.
Fun Fact
In 1980, FAC helped to organize the fist tenants union in lower Park Slope.