Community

Cycloptic Merman

Our first (of two) Summer Intensive 2016 featured a second consecutive Coney Art Walls mural project art directed by Chris Daze Ellis. Daze’s “Cycloptic Merman” concept revolves around a central figure that blends two iconic Coney Island characters, surrounded by vignettes depicting Coney Island traditions and culture. Daze invited our students, interns, and teaching artists to design…

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PS/MS 34: I Am Loisaida

The Lower East Side neighborhood of Loisaida is known for its famed murals and the artists who create them. It’s also the birthplace of Thrive Collective and our School Murals program at PS/MS 34 in 2007. We were delighted to return with a second mural project in 2016 — this time exploring the neighborhood’s cultural identity on the focal wall…

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Campeones in Mexico

Creating is Fun In August 2015, School Murals went international! For more than twenty years, our friends at Lily of the Valley orphanage have sent their children to a neighborhood public middle school, Escuela Secundaria No. 5. Directors Sara and Kevin Neff proposed a mural as an appropriate way to say, “Gracias.” That spring we collaborated…

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Coney Art Walls

Meet Zanab and Josh Street art legend DAZE collaborates with students from Thrive Collective to create a signature Coney Island Art Walls mural. Coney Art Walls with Daze Artist Daze speaks about the importance of collaborations and working with students. Thanks for being awesome, Daze! Portfolio Production  

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Generations in Bay Ridge

“Mural: Master Class” students at McKinley Junior High School celebrated the generational handoff of immigrants in Bay Ridge by creating the Generations mural for the Norwegian Christian Home in Spring 2014. Here are some of the reactions from school and community leaders about the project’s significance: Principal Janice Geary, McKinley Junior High School “Projects like…

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Williamsburg’s Legacy

“Mural: Master Class” students at Progress High School created the Legacy mural to celebrate the cultural heritage Puerto Rican immigrants brought with them to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, beginning in the 1940s. Installed at the entrance of the Borinquen Plaza Senior Center, the project was funded by City Council Member Erik Martin Dilan, with volunteers from local partners Cru New York,…

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PS/MS 34: Dream Walls Inspire

Thrive Collective’s first “Dream Walls” murals happened as a fun, one-off project at PS/MS 34 in the Lower East Side in 2007. Within three years, the school received an A-rating and academic improvements coincided with completion of the public art that inspired students to pursue their dreams.  Later, the impact inspired a movement citywide. Read…

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