Jersey City Mural Arts Youth Program

I’ve had the pleasure of being the Co-Director of the Jersey City Mural Arts Youth Program, along side Duda Penteado and in collaboration with Brooke Hansson through the JCMAP Program, for the past 6 summers. In 2019, Duda and I were honored to recieve the Jersey City Arts Council Award for Public Art because of the work we do with this program. What started with 9 young artists and an idea has grown into a competitive full scale 2 month summer program that offers a paid apprenticeship for both high school and college age local students who are interested in the arts. We’ve completed 5 Large Scale (some up to 4,000 sq ft) collaborative murals with up to 30 local youth in their neighborhoods. One month of design & research and one month of execution- the process culminates in a vibrant visual story that represents the diverse voices of our youth. The students guide the process through their interests & personal expresion while learning the collabortive process, creative problem solving, working with community to execute a public art work, and the realities of being a working artist in the world. I’ve had the pleasure of helping to shape this program with Duda Penteado and we have seen some incredible transformations in our student’s artwork and lives. Some of our original students have now become our assitants as the program continues to grow in number every year. Each mural has a very unique story to tell. Click on each project below to learn the story and process behind these epic collaborations!

Me with my JC Youth Mural Program partner in crime, Duda Penteado, realizing the epic size of our next wall in 2016.