This Too Shall Pass

  • A view of the mural and the hallway. All of the participants took credit and signed their names on the mural.
  • A participant puts final touches on the mural.
This Too Shall Pass

Project Description

“This Too Shall Pass” focuses on the dreams, wishes, and aspirations of the inmates at Rikers Island. The large mural was created in two sections by 18 incarcerated teenagers and adds color and beauty to a hallway in the jail. The class established a safe place of mutual respect, and the young artists were obligated to keep any conflicts they had separate from the project. The class began with introductory drawing and color theory lessons. In the mural, five dreaming inmates are shown in their beds. Their dreams and wishes appear in bubbles and are integrated throughout the design. Most of the pictured inmates dream of family, while others dream of simply walking down the sidewalk. During the creation of the mural, participants learned important lessons about hard work and collaboration. When the project was completed, both students and teachers were left with a vast sense of pride and accomplishment.

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: 1111 Hazen Street East Elmhurst, NY 11370

Fun Facts

Question about the Mural
How many dreams/wishes do you see in the mural? How many feature images of family?
Fun Fact
The average daily inmate population on Rikers Island is about 14,000.
Research
Rikers Island consists of ten jails and holds local offenders who are awaiting trial and cannot afford bail or were not given bail from a judge, those serving sentences of one year or less, and those temporarily placed there pending transfer.