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Brooklyn with its many diverse neighborhoods and interesting mix of immigrants from all over the world has always been a place for artistic expression.Wall art has now gained respectability and recognition and can even be found in museums and galleries. BBonline recommends some hand-picked wall art for your list of Brooklyn things to Do.
Degraw Street Mural
Columbia Street & Degraw Street
Brooklyn, New York 11231
www.fadingad.wordpress.com
This famous landmark mural in Brooklyn is the work of Damon Ginandes. It was actually commissioned by the landlord of the building on which it appears. The beautiful mural reminiscent of Picasso's style, appears on the windows as well as the compound wall. This masterpiece is worth seeking out from your Brooklyn Bed and Breakfast.
Piece Out, Peace In
NYC DOE Alternative Learning Center
960 Prospect Place, Brooklyn,
New York 11213
www.groundswellmural.org
This massive wall mural sets out to create awareness about gun violence in New York. Painted with acrylic on cinder block, the theme of Piece Out, Piece In, revolves around gun violence. The mural attempts to create an understanding about the causes, consequences of gun violence and offers solutions. The artists have done in-depth research on the subject prior to painting the mural.
Eagle Mural
Park Slope, Brooklyn
New York 11215
www.fadingad.wordpress.com
Painted on the high wall of the Eagle Provisions Grocery & Bakery building, this magnificent mural is an explosion of colorful birds, flying boys with wings, see-through houses with people going about their business, and at the bottom of it all, the spreading roots of a tree.
Bridging the Gap
VIM Store, 556 Nostrand, Brooklyn,
New York 11216
www.groundswellmural.org
A 15 x 75 foot mural, this piece of art emphasizes the importance of bridging the gap between the old and the young through the activities offered by Bailey's Café.
The mural is divided into five panels. The first depicts "Celebration" - a musical concert held at the corner of the street. The second panel shows "Healing" - an event during which young people planted seedlings in the Hatti Carthan Community Garden.
The third panel depicts the personification of the Bridging the Gap idea: the transformation of the bridge tower into an elderly woman reaching out to embrace a younger one.
In "Wisdom," the fourth panel, a couple of young people listen to the tale told by a Vietnam veteran. "Curtain Call," the final panel shows the young artists who painted the mural, taking a bow.
Time Flies: A History of Bushwick
Knickerbocker Avenue & Woodbine Street,
Brooklyn, New York 11237
www.bushwickbk.com
This recent mural traces the history of Bushwick and even seems to predict its future. The 400-foot painting in the heart of Bushwick wraps round the corner of Woodbine Street and Knickerbocker Avenue.
Utopia Express
North Oxford Street (rear of Cumberland Packing)
Brooklyn, New York 11205
www.groundswellmural.org
This eye-catching mural painted on five bricked up windows, has a lovely surreal quality. The subject of the mural is the diversity of nature and humans. It seeks to create connections between the urban and the natural worlds. The career woman becomes an octopus and the Brooklyn Bridge a dinosaur. This mural is essential to your wall art experience during your stay in your cozy Brooklyn Inn.
Anti-Smoking Mural
Berry Street and South 4th, Williamsburg,
Brooklyn, New York 11211
www.abovethegwbphoto.blogspot.com
Another landmark in Brooklyn, this stunning mural evokes Salvador Dali's surrealist style.