Summer Leadership Institute, 2011

Location: 4211 14th Avenue, (Borough Park)

Lead Artist: Clare Herron

Assistant Artist: Grace Baley

Youth Artists: Tiquan Arnon, Immanuel Barnett, Xavier Jackson, Kasey Lindsay, Donovan Dawson, Hasaanul Haq, Emani Hears, Danielle Jordan, Nelaja Muhammed, Arielle Negron, Jalen Pringle, Rosemarie Ratcliffe, Valentin Rodriguez

Community Partners: Trust for Public Land, PS 164

Medium: Mosaic tile

Dimensions: 15' x 70' ft

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Groundswell worked with The Trust for Public Land to transform PS 164's blacktop schoolyard into a green play space. Our team of artists led a group of youth in the design and installation of a vivid mosaic for elementary school children and community members from the neighborhood of Borough Park to enjoy.

"∞ Dreams (Infinite Dreams)" was designed by Groundswell teens and artists as a gift to the school and local community, an ethnically-diverse group made up of public school students and Brooklyn's largest Hasidic population. The mosaic's design celebrates the realization of the community's dream to build a new green space with natural imagery, centered around a dandelion "wish" flower. It also incorporates ideas significant within Jewish culture, including the use of the number eight in visual repetition and a motif of pomegranate seeds to represent renewal.

As we approach the ten-year anniversary of September 11, the coming together of these diverse communities in the creation of a shared public space is an illustration of a more peaceful society we can all help to build.

This project is made possible through the generous support of the Trust for Public Land. Major financial support for Groundswell's 2011 Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) is also contributed by Brooklyn Community Foundation, Catalog for Giving, Charles Lawrence Keith and Clara Miller Foundation, David Rockefeller Fund, Edelman Community Investment, Eileen Fisher, Ethel and W. George Kennedy Family Foundation, Lambent Foundation, Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, and Winifred Johnson Clive Foundation, in addition to numerous individuals.