Murals
ABOUT CASITA MARIA MURALS
The inspiring imagery of the murals on our external wall serve as a welcome to Casita Maria and the Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists (BSSWA), also housed in the building. The mural is a source of unity, celebrating the communities and cultural groups of Hunts Point and the South Bronx while providing opportunities for visitors and passersby to see themselves reflected in the artwork.
As a series, the murals provide illustrations of what young people can learn and achieve when they walk through Casita Maria's doors. The murals invite conversation and learning, and encourage healthy dialogue around race, gender, age, history, ethnicity, migration, immigration, and the importance of culture. This mural series is produced as part of the annual South Bronx Culture Festival (SBCF).
Previous mural artists include: Tats Cru/Edgardo Miranda Rodriguez (2017), STAIN (2018), Lady Pink (2019) and Layqa Nuna Yawar (2020).
ABOUT THE 2022 Casita Maria Values MURAL
The beautiful Casita Maria Values mural was designed and painted collaboratively between Colectivo Moriviví, a women driven artistic collective from Puerto Rico, and the Young Artists of Casita Maria. During the winter of 2022, three Zoom workshops were conducted to identity which Casita Maria values resonated most with the Young Artists and how these words could be illustrated by the muralists on the facade of 928 Simpson Street. The mural collective then created a design based on their input, critique and approval.
Images feature the Young Artists that helped design the mural playing in a Latin Jazz ensmeble to highlight the values of "Collaboration", "Empathy" and "Committment". The "Teaching Our History" wall provides an Indigenous land acknowledgment to the Lenape and highlights a selection of books that are part of the BSSWA curriculum. The "Leadership" wall honors Bronx based musician and songwriter Mike Amadeo who is the owner of Casa Amadeo, the oldest continuously occupied Latin music store in NYC.
Sharon Nichole González Colón and Raysa Raquel Rodríguez García of Colectivo Moriviví began painting the mural on June 12, 2022. Multiple evening sessions were scheduled to project and paint the outline of the design. Three Community Paint Sessions were held for Young Artists and Staff to contribute to the mural. And, after many longs days of work over the course of two weeks, Casita Maria can now share another new mural with the community. We hope it will serve as a welcome to everyone who enters the building and an invitation to embrace our shared values that strengthen us as a community.
Painting Process
About the Artists
Sharon Nichole González Colón and Raysa Raquel Rodríguez García
Colectivo Moriviví is a women driven artistic collective that has been producing public art and artivism since 2013. Our artistic production consists of muralism, community-led muralism, and protest performance/actions. We believe that through artivism we can promote consciousness on social issues, producing what we call the collective "imaginario" (imaginary/imagery). The collective "imaginario" is the imagery we build in our artwork that resonates with Puerto Rican narratives strengthening our collective memory. Our intention is to make community and that our history is not denied, that's why we use public art to achieve it.
All of the founders first studied at Central High School of Visual Arts, located in Santurce, PR. Based in Puerto Rico, we’ve gained recognition for the creation of murals, where we’ve developed the subject of human condition directed to sensibilize spectators.
The group was formed during Santurce es Ley 4 Festival
in Puerto Rico and then we kept participating in local Urban Art Festivals. As our work became more popular, organizations and community leadership started to reach out to us.
In 2018, we were awarded a grant from the Art Matters Foundation. In addition, that same year we became a FRIDA Young Feminists Fund co-part and grantees, and continue to be so to this day. Both initiatives have helped to support and continue our work as young women artists and community organizers.
Previous Murals
Photos by:
Argenis Apolinario
Supported by:
This mural is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Hochul and the New York State Legislature and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Councilmember Rafael Salamanca Jr. Additional funding provided by ConEdison|Arts Al Fresco series.
