Transforming Your Transit Into Tranquility

  • The mural installed on one side of the Tillary Street traffic barrier.
  • A youth participant conducts research for design of the mural.
  • One participant primes the parachute cloth in preparation for painting the mural.
  • Participants work together to paint large flowers to later be pasted to the traffic barrier.
  • Participants and artists in front of the installed artwork at the dedication ceremony.
  • A detail of one of the finished cloth panels before installation.

Project Description

“Transforming Your Transit Into Tranquility” was created in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation. The mural was created by seventeen youth artists led by artists Chris Beck and Tanya Albrightsen-Frable. It complements a Groundswell project from 2009, entitled “Worker Bees;” together, the two artworks beautify both sides of a traffic barrier in Downtown Brooklyn. In “Transforming Your Transit Into Tranquility,” nine panels facing vehicular traffic evoke transformation and motion. The image depicts a single sheet of paper transforming from a plane into a boat. It is designed to be “read” from either direction of traffic, like a palindrome. Nine additional panels face pedestrian and bicyclists, and augment “Worker Bees,” adding images of flowers and flora in large scale to the existing mosaic.

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Project Info

Fun Facts

Fun Fact
The piece of paper morphing into a paper airplane and a boat are a form of Japanese artistry called origami.
Research
There are over 270,000 species of flowers recorded. How many can you name?
Suggested Activity
A palindrome is a word or phrase which reads the same in both directions. Some examples of palindromes include the words racecar, civic, and rotor. Can you think of any other palindromes?