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Painting a picture of a better community

August 17, 2012 Denise Romano

Teens paint a mural highlighting traffic safety, public awareness and environmental change in Sunset Park, along 25th Street and Fourth Avenue.

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A new mural will soon grace the side of the C-Town on 25^th Street in Sunset Park.

The project is being coordinated by local non-profits Groundswell and UPROSE, along with the Department of Transportation, aiming to unite artists with the community to create a large scale public art project, reflecting on local issues.

We are using art as a tool for social change, explained Crystal Clarity, lead artist at Groundswell, adding that this years project is about traffic safety, public awareness and environmental change in Sunset Park.

The seven week-long process starts with the organizations learning about each another and what their concerns are through a series of workshops. Then the teens who receive a stipend get visual art training.

They learn how to think in terms of design, composition, color and scale the skills we will need to execute a project of this scale, Clarity said.

After the partners approve the design, the wall gets primed and the mural is painted. This mural is slated to be finished by August 18 and the artists stay an extra week to fine-tune.

The amazing part is cultivating an artistic and professional mentorship with youth. Some have never been exposed to the arts, Clarity said. I appreciate watching their growth and team building.

Michelle Kaucic, community coordinator with safety, education and outreach for DOT, said the mural creates an open dialogue.

We think its effective because we are training a group of young people to speak with their peers about traffic safety. They do research and transform it into art, she said. They use their voice instead of us lecturing. We get them thinking about traffic and community concerns in a way they never did.

One of the participating youths, Raymond Reyes, 16, lives in Borough Park. He said he would bring what he learned back to his neighborhood.

Its a pleasure to get to do something proactive and positive something that will benefit the community, he said. I got a better idea of what environmental justice is and the issues with traffic. People use Fourth Avenue as an alternative highway instead of recognizing that people live here.

Sol Castillo, 16, of Bergen Beach, agreed. I learned to work with artists, how to paint and communicate better, she said. Its a great experience; something new.

Markus Ricardo, 16 of Carroll Gardens said he learned, To communicate through arts and symbols. Its enjoyable work.