Maybelline Amaya first got involved with Groundswell when her school, the Urban Assembly of Music and Art, collaborated with Groundswell and then-City Councilmember Letitia James on “Peace Bridge,” a mural project designed to bring together neighbors from two adjacent public housing buildings with a history of violence.
 
The Brownsville resident and high school senior is now working for Groundswell on two simultaneous mural projects in afterschool art apprenticeship programs taking place currently in our Gowanus studio.
 
Beginning in October, Amaya and her team of co-apprentices began working with professional artists Nicole Schulman and Edwin Vasquez to create a series of mural panels on human trafficking, domestic servitude, labor abuse, and other forms for modern slavery with ArtWorks for Freedom. The panels will be used as a part of a travelling exhibition to raise awareness on the issues.
 
“Human trafficking is a tough topic,” Amaya said. “It doesn’t just happen 'out there' it happens here in this country too… to men, women, and children of all ages, to people who don’t deserve it.”
 
In creating the designs for the panels, Amaya and her teammates had to be cautious with such a sensitive topic.
 
“As artists we really needed to be careful with our imagery. We didn’t want to include anything that might be a trigger for a victim. That meant using color to portray mood, using a lot of geometric shapes, and avoiding clichés like chains, sad faces, and high heels or fishnet stockings.”
 
In April, Amaya’s second apprentice team started work on a project with artist Crystal Bruno, in collaboration with Planned Parenthood on the theme: “Care. No Matter What.” to serve as a visual representation of the organization’s mission for their New York office lobby.
 
“To me,” Amaya said, “the Planned Parenthood project provides a sort of closure after learning about the tough realities of human trafficking. Planned Parenthood helps people. They never tell anyone they can’t be helped because they don’t have insurance, or they aren’t documented, or they have a certain sexual orientation, or any other status or situation. In the human trafficking project we learned that a lot of times traffickers will convince their victims that they can’t get away because no one will help them. Now I know that places like Planned Parenthood exist to help people no matter what, so maybe spreading the message will help save victims in the future.”
 
Once completed, Amaya thinks that the murals will have a big impact. “Art speaks many languages. Whoever sees the murals will know what they’re for and will feel the impact and emotion in the art. I hope that the murals will make them think about people they know and encourage them to help others.”  
 
“We’re making art, but we’re still helping,” continued Amaya, “we’re saying ‘we’ve heard your story and we want to help you make a difference.’ These projects make me want to advocate for underrepresented people and let their voices be heard.”
 
Both projects will be unveiled this May.
 
Amaya will be attending the College of Saint Rose in the Fall on a full ride scholarship.