Hope, Health, and Home

  • "Health" panel - The figures are painted in black and white to preclude any negative assumptions as to who the homeless population in NYC is in terms of race and gender.
  • “Home” panel - The tree is meant to symbolize growth, stability, and shelter.
  • “Hope” panel – Through its imagery, this panel suggests that goals set by the residents, represented by the keys here, are bridges to a better future.

Project Description

"Hope, Health, and Home" was created by the Lang Mural Action class at The New School in partnership with BRC to celebrate the organization’s new building on 25th Street. The class researched, conceptualized, and created cohesive designs for three acrylic on canvas panels. The three panels are unified by a cohesive visual language and are based on BRC’s tagline of Hope, Health, and Home. In “Hope,” keys represent the possibility of owning a home or living in an apartment, one of the goals for many of the homeless residents who rely on the services that BRC provides. In “Health,” a group of people sit around a table sharing a meal, supporting one another and gazing out through an open window onto the New York cityscape. In “Home,” a tree grows from the center of an apartment, books at its roots representing the roots of knowledge. The tree symbolizes growth, stability and shelter. The entire BRC community, including friends, neighbors, clients, and staff, were invited to a special celebration to help paint each canvas and inaugurate the new facility.

Add new comment

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

Project Info

Location: 127 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001

Fun Facts

Research
According to The New York City Department of Homeless Services more than 8,500 families with children use their shelter services on a given night. There are more than 40,000 individuals in the shelter system.
Legend Symbol
The Cat. Here the cat was identified by residents as an important symbol, because of its association with having nine lives. The residents saw this as a symbol of having another chance to succeed.
Fun Fact
BRC was founded in 1971. Today the multi-million dollar nonprofit provides housing and services to over ten thousand New Yorkers in need.