While Banksy’s been tagging up NYC, and the folks at Five Points astutely use the federal Visual Artists Rights Act to try to save their Long Island City graffiti mecca— there are some other street artists that deserve recognition. They aren’t ironic or gimmicky artists. They are authentic and rooted in their own experience.
 
Over the past six months a group of 35 NYC teens have been creating public art in their own Super-storm Sandy affected communities – Red Hook, the Rockaways, Coney Island, Staten Island and Sunset Park.
 
Led by Groundswell, the mural series is a collaboration of a broad spectrum of stakeholders— including Groundswell artists, national development organization LISC, master street artist Swoon, community based nonprofits as well as local schools and neighborhood gardens.
 
Unlike Banksy—who works in masked anonymity – which I suspect is as much to increase his ‘buzz’ as it is to avoid getting in trouble for unpermissioned work—these kids work in public. They work together. They engage their neighbors, friends, local businesses and passersby. Their engagement strengthens the connective tissue that binds their community and that helps it heal. Ironically— these very kids—most of whom are low income teens of color—remain invisible while many lone-ranger street artists have mastered the art of their own brand.
 
“We were able to see that we are all connected in some way,” shares Staten Island teen artist Tasleem Sheikh. “We told each other stories, related to one another, and supported each other. That was the most important thing about this mural project for me—relating to one another to create family and have valuable shared experiences. I was able to open up and let new people into my life, which I know will help me move forward.”
 
The youth looked at the work of other artists that deal with suffering and healing from Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele to the contemporary work of street artist Swoon in post-disaster communities of Haiti and New Orleans. The youth created images that make your hair stand on end: an elementary school shines in the form of a lighthouse (which acted as a shelter in the Rockaways); an octopus that fails to drown Red Hook underwater; the mermaid that comforts Coney Island; and a heart that contains healing for the lost children of Staten Island.
 
Like the youth artists, Swoon “believes that color and beauty and culture, that some people believe are luxuries, are actually something inspiriting to people especially in situations of struggle.”
 
Today, street artist Swoon and Groundswell artists Yana Dimitrova, Misha Tyutyunik, Jasmine Hayes and Angel Garcia complete a capstone mural inspired by and integrating imagery from the youth artists’ murals on view on the storied “Keith Haring Wall” at Bowery and Houston now through December.
 
The mural will be dedicated on the anniversary of the storm: October 29th at 4:30 at the site owned by the late Tony Goldman—a longtime supporter of street art. Recovery Diaspora is a piece that traces its history back to the social justice aspirations of Diego Rivera’s Mexican Muralist movement as well as the vibrant expression of youth culture of Lee Quinones’ Wild Style graffiti scene.
 
These days, as the Executive Director of Groundswell, I am all about numbers: ever trying to calculate and quantify the outcomes of our work with disadvantaged youth, artists and community organizations. Trying to prove to the philanthropic community how the creative process and its resulting art connects us, transports us, transforms us, and empowers us to work together to create the just and equitable world in which we want to live. But sometimes, you just have to trust ‘the container of the heart to capture the impact of hope.