Peace Bridge

Through Peace Bridge, youth artists transformed a pedestrian overpass connecting the Ingersoll and Whitman residential communities. Their design celebrates how the bridge connects and unifies these two communities. Over the course of seven weeks, they explored what makes an ideal city block and what it means to navigate shared space. Inspired by these dialogues, the team used the image of two hands coming together to form a heart in order to represent the relationship between unity and compassion. The light of hope,healing, and a bright future projects out of this symbol of love and connection. To one side of the bridge, in large lettering, reads the title of the mural, Peace Bridge, and the other side reads, Fort Greene, which honors the greater neighborhood. Because the bridge structurally embodies the metaphors of coming together, and bridging gaps, the artists decided to emphasize this quality, and used bridges in the imagery as well. On top of the bridges are pedestrians and cyclists navigating the streets, sharing space, and moving throughout the city, echoing the activity in the community in which the mural resides. This imagery deepens the significance of this overpass and emphasizes how, like a bridge, our paths intersect and our lives depend on sturdy relationships and connections.