There’s a new street mural on Syracuse’s Northside, filling the empty concrete at the intersection of Lodi Street, East Division Street and North McBride Street.
Artist Daniela Nikolavsky led the project, along with artist Brandon Lazore and SU professor Rochelle Royster. They used a design provided by women in a refugee/New American art therapy class facilitated by the not-for-profit Hopeprint.
The goal is “to have different ways we’re telling the Northside’s collective story, which is incredibly diverse,” said Hopeprint founder and CEO Nicole Watts, in a Syracuse Public Arts Commission meeting in June.
The abstract mural features four women, whose faces overlap with swirling colors and patterns. Measuring 25 by 28 feet, the mural is temporary and “will stay on as long as the street paint lasts,” Watts said.
Each side of the mural will feature blank boxes for neighborhood residents and children to add their own designs using chalk.
The project emerged from community engagement and design efforts by Hopeprint’s West Pond Alliance. The project’s mission is to establish a cultural arts district in Syracuse’s Northside and to increase and strengthen representation of the neighborhood diverse population.
Pending approval, the West Pond Alliance plans to host weekly community events in the “Lodi Triangle” this summer.
Daniela Nikolavsky installed this mural on North McBride Street on Syracuse's Northside. The mural was designed by refugee women in a local art therapy group. (Katrina Tulloch)This is CNY
The mural installation temporarily closed a portion of North McBride Street in late June and early July.
The street adjacent to Amos Park was one of three community-based initiatives arranged by the Syracuse Metropolitan Transportation Council, the City of Syracuse and Adapt CNY.
Paint, barriers and signage for the project were estimated to cost $4,685, according to the project’s city application to the Syracuse Public Arts Commission.
Funding for the project came from Northside TNT, Adapt CNY, the Onondaga County Health Department and CNY Arts.
The original proposal for the North McBride Street mural on Syracuse's Northside came from a design by refugee and New American women in a Hopeprint art therapy class.This is CNY
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