[2006 Projects]
* Hunger for Knowledge...
* Follow Your Vision
* Our Community
* One Community Many...
* One World Unity
* Weeksville: Past Forward
* DEJA-VU: Which Path Will...
* Unity Arches/ Learn
Love...
* Yesterday I Dared to...
* Feels Like Home...
VOICES HER'D/ Yesterday I Dared to Struggle. Today I Dare to Win
YESTERDAY I DARED TO STRUGGLE. TODAY I DARE TO WIN
Groundswell Community Mural Project ©
www.groundswellmural.org
Acrylic on Wall
8 x 80 Ft
2006
Lead Artist: Cara Earl
Assistant Artist: Sophia Dawson
Youth Artists: Ariel Azore , Lydia Montanez, Tatiana Paredes, Chrissy Lamarre, Nisha Mcleod, Patrice Martin, and Kareema Pressley
Community Partner: The Graham Avenue Business Improvement District
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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This mural is located on Graham Avenue, also known locally as Avenue of Puerto Rico, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. This diverse Latino, African American and Caribbean community has an extreme sense of pride when it comes to their ancestry and continues their traditions through music, food, dance and festivals.
The mural, which is part of Groundswell’s Voices Her’d series, is divided into four sections. The first is entitled ‘Portraits of a Remarkable Future’, and features portraits of each girl in the group towering above a city skyline. Each portrait represents the girls in ten years and in their future careers. They designed their outfits accordingly and worked on the portraiture and poses.
The remaining sixty feet of the mural tells a story of one family from past to future. The story begins with a large red window which frames a scene of pepper fields filled with women. The women's hands connect, portraying the beginning of a relationship between each other. The image of the pepper field references Latino culture. On the far right of the field is a large pepper tree which connects the second and third scene. The tree has broken through its borders and entered a kitchen, where the peppers are dispersed and become a wallpaper motif. A grandmother, mother, and daughter are side by side cooking with spices and ingredients, such as sofrito. Behind the women is a window to the Williamsburg Bridge , showing their immigration path to the US . This scene represents the importance of family, stories, and traditions.
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The crowd is made up of many people, fifteen of whom hold candles to represent the young women's support and inspiration. The group includes women that the Voices Her'd group wrote about as their personal role models and individuals from the neighborhood who have served the community for over fifty years. Their service to the community ranges from doctor, wedding dress maker, founder of Baruca college, vendors in the Moore Street market, etc. The faces in the mural are the faces of the community. They are the strength and hope for future generations. The mural ends with the community showing their influence and support for the young women. |
This project was made possible with support from Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (CD #12), Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation, FAR Fund/ Fund for Social Change, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts, Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture in collaboration with Cornell University Cooperative Extension -NYC, The 'Garden Mosaics and Urban Agriculture' Project, Starry Night Fund at Tides Foundation and the generosity of individual donors.