By Kids, for the Community: CITYarts Unveils A New Mural at St. James Triangle

“Flowering Vine and Us,” at St. James Triangle

In Chinatown, an apple orchard overlooks a fantastical seascape where bright orange poppies bloom and a squid-crowned nymph blows kisses to head-sized bumblebees. The mural at St. James Triangle, between St. James Place and Oliver Street, looks like something out of a child’s imagination – and it is.

The artwork, “Flowering Vine and Us,” was commissioned by the NYC Parks Department and CITYarts, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering young people through public art projects.

Founder and Executive and Creative director of CITYarts, Tsipi Ben-Haim, congratulated the young artists and project volunteers on their accomplishment at this afternoon’s ribbon-cutting ceremony. She said that these projects motivate and engage young minds within the community.

“When they see the walls they work on, all of a sudden they realize that they can improve themselves in so many ways through just being heard,” Ben-Haim said. “If we only listen to them and give them the opportunities to do something for us and for themselves, our lives, and their lives and the walls around town will be completely different.”

With the design and supervision of local illustrator Kevin Galeazzi, 11 participants from the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development’s Summer Youth Employment Program were able to paint their vision from start to finish: a challenging two-month process.

“This was the largest work I’ve ever made,” Galeazzi said. “I had a lot of help from the high school students. It was my design, but it was definitely a collaborative effort.”

The names of the 11 student artists who worked on the mural

The Summer Youth Employment Program provides lessons in financial literacy and practical work experience to approximately 900 young adults, ages 14 to 24, each summer. Students in the program earn minimum wage and are matched with positions based on their career interests.

SYEP director Julissa Figueroa explained that while there are plenty of employment opportunities for students at summer camps, it is difficult to find positions related to the arts.

“Not everybody wants to work with 14, 15, 16-year-olds. Those are the ones that we struggle to match,” Figueroa said. “CITYarts, they don’t care about the age. They just care that they want to do something for the community.”

CITYarts welcomes participants ages 12 to 18. One of the artists for the project, 15-year-old Dana Wright, is a sophomore at the High School of Art and Design. She is interested in animation.

“I would do this again,” said Wright, “if I had the chance.” She smiled as she pointed to the concrete wall adjacent to the mural, where the young artists were allowed to paint freely. “My favorite part was probably helping with the roses,” she said.

The freehand section of the mural, painted entirely by student artists

The mural was made possible with sponsorships by Abreva, Morgan Stanley, TD Bank and Blick Art Materials, who provided art supplies so that participants could continue creating even after the paint had dried.

CITYarts is not finished painting either.

“One of my favorite activities is walking around town looking for walls and looking for communities that cry for attention,” said Ben-Haim. “That’s what is important.”