Press
Amplifying youth voices for community transformation.
Groundswell is a social justice organization that uses the arts as a vehicle to promote youth development and empowerment. The nonprofit was founded in 1996 by a group of New York City artists, educators, and activists with the belief that art creates community, and community creates change.
For more information about Groundswell's programs, events, or projects, reach out to info@groundswell.nyc or 718-254-9782.
In the News
-
May 4, 2021
New York Philharmonic Announces Multiple Weekend-Long Festivals In Partnership With Groundswell, A Better Jamaica, Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education, El Puente, Flushing Town Hall, and National Black Theatre
The New York Philharmonic announces NY Phil Bandwagon 2, a series of four weekend-long festivals across New York City, May 7–30, 2021. Performances will take place from a mobile, 20-foot shipping container at Domino Park in Brooklyn, Marcus Garvey Park in Manhattan, Father Gigante Plaza in the Bronx, and St. Albans Park in Queens. Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo returns as Creator and Executive Producer.
-
November 19, 2020
5 Art Accounts to Follow on Instagram Now
The New York Times - "A look at a photographer who follows graffiti artists, a student chronicling Black art, a collective devoted to social justice and more."
-
October 14, 2020
RAUL AYALA: HOUSTON BOWERY WALL AS A PORTAL
BSA (Brooklyn Street Art) - "Steering away from potentially inflammatory political content or street beef of the past on this high-profile wall with a New York street art/graffiti history, the current occupants of the Houston Bowery Wall are more focuses on allegory, and community. Featuring a fleet of volunteers and a mural full of history and aspiration, Raul Ayala thinks of this wall as a teachable moment. The artist employed many of the 21 days that this mural took to complete to do just that: teach."
Press Releases
-
August 24, 2017
Inspired NYC Youth Utilize Public Art for Community Expression, Not Oppression
As seen in the protests in Charlottesville and the subsequent removals of Confederate statues across the nation, art is a site of power when placed in a public space. Instead of perpetrators of a violent past, art can be used as a liberatory process formed through community partners by providing platforms for voices that aren’t heard.
-
April 6, 2017
NYC Community Mural Organization in conversation with Angela Davis
Groundswell will join author, activist, and scholar Angela Davis, together with a distinguished panel of Groundswell-affiliated artists and academics for a conversation about youth incarceration and making art inside the walls of Rikers Island.
-
October 21, 2016
Robyne Walker Murphy is Groundswell’s New Executive Director
Groundswell, New York City’s leading community arts organization, is pleased to announce that, following a national search, its Board of Directors has appointed Robyne Walker Murphy as Groundswell’s Executive Director. Robyne is a seasoned professional with ample experience working at the intersections of art, youth development, cultural equity and social justice.
