Musa, Mattaya Fitts, 2022, Cherry Tree Park Image by Eleanor Kipping
ONE WALL MOVEMENT
Summer 2022—Ongoing
ONE WALL MOVEMENT is a public art initiative that centers the voices and talents of muralists, writers, and street artists who self-identify as BIPOC, PGM (People of the Global Majority), women, femme, transgender, nonbinary, and/or gender non-conforming. Taking inspiration from Nas’ hit “One Mic,” ONE WALL MOVEMENT was developed to provide public visual artists with a canvas to work freely and create an organic reflection of their lived experiences rather than set restrictions on their subject matter.
ONE WALL MOVEMENT is a joint initiative between Hi-ARTS and Curator Ayana Ayo. Recognizing the importance of art and design and their contributions to public spaces, ONE WALL MOVEMENT aims to center the voices of often marginalized and underrepresented artists by commissioning and supporting them to produce large-scale public murals.
Although Black and Latinx graffiti and street artists are credited as founders of the street art/contemporary urban art movement, they are rarely featured in festivals, campaigns, commissions, or panel discussions as authorities on the subject. As creative placemaking initiatives spread across municipalities both in the United States and abroad, it is more important now than ever to amplify the stories of these marginalized voices.
The ONE WALL MOVEMENT was launched with Mattaya Fitts and the production of Musa, a large-scale mural on view now through Summer 2023 at Cherry Tree Park in Harlem, New York. This spring we welcome N. Carlos J. as our 2023 ONE WALL MOVEMENT muralist. Over the next three months Hi-ARTS will support N. Carlos J. in the installation of a large scale Harlem-based mural. His residency will welcome audiences to engage with their process through public programming and a mural reveal in Summer 2023.
To learn more about the ONE WALL MOVEMENT Open Call and other artist opportunities, click here.
Artists
N. Carlos J.
2023
A Flower Grows in Harlem, N. Carlos J.
2023, Lucille C. Clarke Housing, Harlem, NY
In Spring 2023 we welcomed N. Carlos J. as our 2023 ONE WALL MOVEMENT muralist. For the development of this work, Carlos photographed local Harlem residents, making them the center of his new work. The mural features the images of hands, and the faces of young Harlem community members surrounded by a bouquet of flowers.
A Flower Grows in Harlem is located on the west facing wall of W 246 W 112th Street and is an Ascendant Neighborhood Development Corporation property. Thank you to Ascendant Neighborhood Development Corporation and Dalton Management for their cooperation and support in executing One Wall 2023.
Hi-ARTS is committed to supporting the work of artists like N. Carlos J. and Mattaya Fitts — just like we have been for over twenty years. You too can support these artists who are changing the game.
“To help illustrate my mural design, I chose the song by Whitney Houston, ‘Greatest Love of All’ to help express my feelings. Our children are our future and if we teach them well, they WILL lead the way to a better future. We must cultivate and nourish with love, guidance, protection and intelligence so that their minds grow like fruit and flowers.”
Mattaya Fitts
2022
Musa, Mattaya Fitts
2022, Cherry Tree Park, Harlem, NY
“At a time when much feels heavy and uncertain, I am interested in conveying themes of personal growth, rest, joy, and transformation. This mural addresses self-care as an extension of community care.”
Partnership
Ayana Ayo, Partnering Curator
Ayana Ayo is a Public Art Admin, Producer, and Consultant. She believes in the transformative power of art to impact the social, emotional, and intellectual development of individuals and society, and has remained committed to spreading and fostering these ideas and values beginning her art administrative career with No Longer Empty. Since working with the street art-focused human rights campaign, Paint the Change, formerly Education is Not a Crime, Ayana Ayo has carved out a niche for herself bringing her art administrative experience to the public art sphere to produce and coordinate public art initiatives for various organizations & corporations. Working with intentionality, she has left her mark on the New York City landscape by directing The 100 Gates Project and Uptown Grand Central. Recently, she has launched The One Wall Movement in partnership with Hi-ARTS, the first mural project dedicated to uplifting the voices & talents of marginalized and underrepresented muralists.
She has a BA in American Studies and Organizational Management from Claremont McKenna College and is a graduate of the UPENN and National Art Strategies Executive Program in Arts and Culture and was a 2018 Singapore International Foundation Arts for Good Fellow. She continues to seek out art initiatives where she can use her experience in arts education, community engagement, and program management.
Image by Laurie Markiewicz
ONE WALL MOVEMENT is supported by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Milton and Sally Avery Foundation.
