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Federico Garcia Lorca "Sleepless City" Mural Project

We are celebrating the neighborhood’s multiculturalism by depicting Federico Garcia Lorca’s “Sleepless City” poem in a 4-part mural series.

Leader

Kayla Welbanks

Location

Knickerbocker Ave and Himrod St Brooklyn, NY 11237

Impact areas

About the project

As part of a street beautification project by Artmakers, Inc. and under the direction of NY Artist Camille Perrottet, we are celebrating Bushwick’s unique multicultural character by showcasing Federico Garcia Lorca’s poem “Sleepless City”.  Established in 1984, Artmakers, Inc. collaborates with community organizations to create high quality public art relevant to lives and concerns of neighborhood residents.

Each mural in the series includes a stanza from the poem, in both the original Spanish and English, as well as a feature of his face--his eyes, lips, or nose. The 4th and final mural in the series will feature his entire face.  In addition to the poem, the murals also contain elements specific to the Bushwick neighborhood.  The first mural on Starr St. included an American flag containing various other flags representative of the diverse nationalities of Bushwick residents.  A design element in the 2nd mural is a map of the world on which numbered dots indicate places of origin that will be listed in a corresponding key. In this way, the Sleepless City Murals bring people together, helping to reduce the loneliness and alienation that is the human condition and, perhaps, encouraging us to dream. The “sleepless city” with its bright lights is where people search for connection and meaning. We're in the process of locking down the wall and finalizing the artistic details for 3rd mural. 

Visit lorcamurals.blogspot.com for more information, project updates, & work schedules, and http://vimeo.com/41535724 to see a short film on the project and making of the 1st mural!

The Steps

  1. Host a fiesta fundraising event to raise donations and spread the word
  2. Clean the street and prep the wall for painting
  3. Sketch the design to scale on the wall with chalk
  4. Begin painting!

Depending on how many beautiful, helpful hands we have, we should be able to complete the 2nd mural in 2 weeks and move on to the 3rd! So come celebrate and participate with us! 

Why we‘re doing it

We want to bring poetry and art  into the streets because it's a beautiful way for people to communicate, interact, and build relationships.  In this way we will celebrate Bushwick's multicultural character and Spanish-speaking heritage while making the streets a cleaner, safer, and more aesthetically pleasing place to thrive.

$2,290.00 / $1,861.00