Once-troubled youth use murals to transform Brownsville
Youth With History of Probation Find Outlet To Uplift Spirit in Brownsville
Dozens of artists and community members gathered together on Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville for the unveiling of a huge 53-by-80-foot mural titled “The Wall of Reflect” on Friday.
The mural, the final in the two-year “Transform/Restore: Brownsville” series of five murals in the neighborhood, was created with the help of the New York City Department of Probation, Groundswell and the Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District along with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. It was created by young adults on probation as a way to support and create permanent change in Brownsville.
“This is a momentous day,” said Daniel Murphy, executive director of Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District. “It is the culmination of two years’ worth of work between several partners, agencies, public agencies, not-for-profits, artists and residents. Anyone who has walked down these streets and has felt intense pride in this neighborhood knows that it is undervalued and we want to show its true colors.