Flowering Vine and Us
Lead artist, Kevin Galeazzi, scrapes the graffiti and vines off the top of the Flowering Vine mural before priming the rest of the wall for the final design. The original mural is one of the first murals that CITYarts completed in 1997 and has been the victim of multiple layers of graffiti and weather damage since then.
A member of the Long Island City community and her daughter help with painting efforts at the Community Painting Day for the Rising up in the Community mural.
Flowering Vine and Us
Student Youth Employment Program (SYEP) student Jianna creates drawings during a workshop to refine ideas for the mural.
Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton Year 2
Student Youth Employment Program (SYEP) students have to come off the scaffolding to get all supplies for the mural. The mural at Alexander Hamilton Playground is 80 feet tall and students must go on scaffolding to get the entirety of the building painted for the mural.
Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton Year 2
When working on the middle or lower part of the mural on a floor, students have to sit down to get as close as possible to the mural.
Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton Year 2
A Student Youth Employment Program (SYEP) student paints the sky portion of the mural. She is known as “sky captain” and is always in charge of mixing blue for the paint, making sure it is applied properly, and teaching other students how to paint the sky.
Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton Year 2
The mural at Alexander Hamilton Playground is 80 feet tall and students must go on scaffolding to get the entirety of the building painted for the mural.
Flowering Vine and Us
Student Youth Employment Program (SYEP) students create drawings during a workshop to create ideas for the mural. SYEP provides New York City youth between the ages of 14 and 24 with paid summer employment for up to six weeks in July and August.
Flowering Vine and Us
A Student Youth Employment Program (SYEP) student makes notes and changes to the design made by lead artist, Kevin, during a workshop.
Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton Year 2
A Student Youth Employment Program (SYEP) known as “sky captain” student paints the sky portion of the mural.
Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton Year 2
The mural at Alexander Hamilton Playground is 80 feet tall and students must go on scaffolding to get the entirety of the building painted for the mural.
Rising up in the Community
At the Long Island City mural, Rising up in the Community, CITYarts hosted a community painting day where members of the area were able to come to the mural and help paint.
Rising up in the Community
Lead artist, Annabelle Popa, works quickly to get the paint ready for all the volunteers and children in July 2018, in Long Island City.
Paint it Forward
Lead artist, Roberto Reynoso, designed a mural, with the help of students, for Murray Hill Academy in Midtown, NY. Roberto explained that the tiger, left, is the mascot of the academy and the small dog, right, is the school’s therapy dog, Ginger. The toppled cones resemble the obstacles that students have overcome to get to where they are now. The road resembles the path the students will take from their community of New York City to the unknown. The students in the hot air balloons represent the new heights that students reach once they leave the school.
Artist Roberto Reynoso looks over a CITYarts mural design prior to a volunteer painting day.
Paint it Forward
An employee from Deloitte greets students from Murray Hill Academy. All the murals done with CITYarts come from ideas from students/youth, a lead artist is brought in to compile the ideas and create a design for a collaborative artwork. The mural at Murray Hill Academy was nearing completion when Deloitte volunteered with CITYarts.
Alice on the Wall
Stuyvesant High School student, Kate, repaints the mural, Alice on the Wall, at World Trade Center, NY. Kate is Vice President of the art club at the school.
Alice on the Wall
Alice on the Wall was made in the wake of 9/11 between Borough of Manhattan Community College and Stuyvesant High School. The mural was originally created as a way to encourage students at Stuyvesant to return to school following the September 11 attacks that happened nearby.
Alice on the Wall
Students from Stuyvesant High School to repair and repaint the mural at World Trade Center, NY. The process began with a cleaning of the mural to get the dirt off before the painting began.
Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton Year 2
A Student Youth Employment Program (SYEP) student works on the mural with an employee from WeWork in July 2018. WeWork volunteered several employees to work with CITYarts to make progress on the mural.
Alice on the Wall
The art club at Stuyvesant High School spends every summer repairing the mural and repainting it. A group of around ten students will work on the mural throughout the summer with the help of corporate groups occasionally.
Alice on the Wall
Head of the Art Club at Stuyvesant High School, Cheryl, repaints a section of the Alice on the Wall mural. As president of the club, Cheryl coordinates with corporate volunteers, students, and CITYarts during the 2018 summer for the restoration.
Flowering Vine and Us
Students from the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) help scrape the graffiti and vines off the Flowering Vine mural before they begin priming the wall for the final design.
CITYarts, inc
CITYarts places New York City youth with professional artists to create public art, (murals and mosaics). I had the opportunity to work with the nonprofit during the summer of 2018 photographing the murals that were being worked on at the time.