GOWANUS — Groundswell, a public art nonprofit, provides paid art opportunities to students in Brooklyn. As part of its Voices Her’d program, designed for femme-identifying individuals and women, students spent eight weeks researching and designing a mural, culminating in a public paint day.

“Fifth Avenue committee has partnered with Groundswell for over 20 years on murals and various projects,” said Michelle de la Uz, executive director of FAC. “They did the original mural at the FAC Center for Community Development when we opened the building, and the mural needed to be updated and renewed because the building is undergoing some renovations. We wanted the mural to depict our more recent work.”

On Tuesday, Aug. 13, Groundswell hosted a public paint day at FAC’s Center for Community Development at 182 Fourth Avenue. The building is home to nonprofit organizations and community programming, and FAC has big plans for the near-future. Other community paint days throughout August included one at a new affordable housing development on Aug. 14, also in collaboration with FAC, and at Atlantic Terminal Mall on Aug. 15 with Brooklyn Org. The locations of these murals, in Gowanus and Downtown Brooklyn respectively, are areas facing rapid gentrification; the mural programs are an opportunity for students and artists to connect residents with the neighborhood’s history.