Project Information

Lead Artists

Assitant Artists

Participants

None

Neighborhood

Google Map of Albany, NY

Location

305 East 161st Street Bronx, NY 10451

Theme

Medium

Dimensions

4 x 8 ft

Year

2012

Funders

    None

In 2012, Groundswell partnered with Montefiore Medical Center and its Office of Community Health and Wellness Healing Arts Program to create five beautiful murals celebrating the theme "Visions of a Healthy Community." Groups of young people were recruited from local afterschool programs to participate in the five-week project. Along with Groundswell professional artists, these youth were charged with researching, conceptualizing, designing, and painting the murals on stretched canvas. Each completed mural was then installed in the waiting area of one of five Montefiore health centers, enhancing these spaces for thousands of patients and community members. The Bloom of a Healthy Community, created by youth artists from the Morrisania Revitalization Corporation, is one of these murals. "The Bloom of a Healthy Community" depicts several vignettes of healthy activities supported by the branches of a massive tree. Vignettes include a man watering a community garden, children playing in safe, open spaces, and welcoming homes made of fruit. Ladders lead to each branch, while bright green leaves sprout around them. The finished mural is installed at Montefiore's Comprehensive Health Care Center.