PS 13 Roberto Clemente: Unplug & Live Life

Over the course of 16 weeks we collaborated on a mural with a group of high school students from the Next Steps after school program located in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York. The mural itself was painted on the eastern wall of Roberto Clemente elementary school, otherwise known as PS 13.

Prior to painting we spent several months brainstorming with the students out of a classroom at the Prince Joseph Avitto Community Center. We taught them about some basic artistic concepts like shading and color mixing to exploring different lettering styles popularized by graffiti artworks. We also had many discussions about the students’ neighborhoods, their culture, what they see everyday in their communities and how that impacts them.

Additionally, a popular idea that kept coming up was social media and its effects on society, especially the youth. Some of the common themes we had the students emulate in their work are: isolation, feelings of inadequacy, overcoming life’s obstacles, the toxicity of social media, the need for positive community building activities, and the significance of having a positive mindset as a way to challenge the status quo.

These ideas can be seen throughout the mural. For instance, the blue girl who is stuck in her virtual world surrounded by likes as a way to feed her soul but, she actually longs for something more than the artificial joy social media can provide. She wants to leave that behind in favor of connection with others, and experience her community. Some of the positive aspects of the community that our students came up with include participating in the basketball tournaments and track meets held at Gershwin Park. As well as success gardens, which is based in East NY and is tended to by community members. Another example is the block parties and other events that are organized and attended by residents of the neighborhood. We also included some students researching on a laptop as a way of demonstrating the benefits of the internet when its usage is stewarded well. The kids around the globe are representative of the idea of society’s youth finding their place and making their mark on the world.

We asked some of our students about their experience with this project and they said that it “was fun and allowed me to get to know the community better,” and that it, “opened us up to new opportunities, pushed us out of our comfort zones and allowed us to be ourselves and find ourselves.” We hope that this project afforded them the chance to live life and unplug.