The month of June was an exciting time for Groundswell as we reflected back on the recently-wrapped up spring season of after-school programming and geared up for our flagship Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) youth employment program.
We are pleased to announce that Groundswell’s Teen Empowerment Mural Apprenticeship participants-who met weekly throughout the school year to create public art for community-based organizations-revealed the fruits of all their hard work at dedication ceremonies last month. The first of the projects was created in partnership with the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation and the Brooklyn Navy Yard at Building 92 around the theme of “Today’s Workforce.” The second project was created in partnership with the GED Plus Bronx High School around the theme of “Redefining Success.” The youth, led by professional teaching artists, explored social justice issues and engendered critical discussions around topics important to them.
Additionally, we also wrapped up the spring session of Portfolio Development, an intensive program focused on preparing young people for art college admission and scholarship. We are proud to say that eighty-five percent of this year’s college-eligible Portfolio Development participants have been accepted to the schools of their choice, including the Fashion Institute of Technology, Pratt Institute, Parsons the New School for Design, and the California Institute of the Arts, among other prestigious programs.
As we move forward into the summer, we gearing up for Groundswell’s SLI program, where six teams of twenty young people will get the extraordinary opportunity to research, design, and fabricate large-scale public art under the guidance of professional artists. We are particularly excited about the unique opportunity for two of these teams to work with world-renowned street artist Swoon to address disaster recovery in NYC’s most Hurricane Sandy-affected areas, including Red Hook, Staten Island, Coney Island, and the Rockaways. The four murals they create will be tied together by a temporary mural on the famed Bowery Wall by Swoon herself.
We are also looking forward to SLI projects on Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville, where youth probationers will partner with the Pitkin Avenue Business Improvement District, the NYC Department of Transportation, and the Brownsville Community Justice Center to create a mural celebrating livable streets; on Atlantic Avenue with the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District to transform an underpass and increase foot traffic between commercial districts on Atlantic Avenue and provide a gateway to the waterfront and the magnificent Brooklyn Bridge Park; and at Riverbank State Park in Upper Manhattan in partnership with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection to explore issues surrounding natural resource protection and its effect on communities.
We are very excited to celebrate the success of our spring and summer programming. We are continually inspired by our youth program participants as they work towards improving themselves and the larger community.