We are raising money to hand paint a 500 sq. foot mural of the Thirteenth Amendment for Juneteenth. The painting will live in the heart of Bed Stuy, located on the Brighter Choice Community School campus. The wall will face the Pulaski playground and is currently accessible to the public all year long.

On this Juneteenth holiday, we will reflect on our history and the many meanings that “Abolition” has carried by painting The Thirteenth Amendment. The mural is at a scale and placement that our surrounding community can engage year-round. The artists will work with the surrounding community to paint the project together.

With pandemic restrictions relaxing and school years nearing their end, this will allow the community to engage this landmark wall as an educational tool and cultural asset.

The project’s kickoff is slated for June 18th, where the lead artist will facilitate a community paint day for students, faculty and residents alike to help paint the mural together.

THE FIRST MILESTONE:

$1,000 will cover the material cost to get the project started for our June 18th event.

THE NEXT MILESTONE:

$10,000 will cover all costs to complete the mural from start to finish. The expenses are a rough terrain scissor lift and a rental vehicle to transport supplies ($2,000), paint and materials ($2,000), labor for three painters averaging $400/day x 4 days each ($5,000), and supplies to host the event and cover the cost of studio rental to prepare the mural for installation ($1,000). 

THE LAST MILESTONE:

$15,000 will support the organizing team continue to do this work.

$3,000 will help Open Air Projects cover studio admin costs such as rent, insurance, accounting fees, etc.
$1,300 will pay for a plaque commemorating the work to be installed on-site commemorating the project.
$700 will compensate our organizing partners who have generously donated studio space to help make this project a reality.
 
ALL DONATIONS ARE TAX-DEDUCTIBLE:

This project is made possible by collaborating with two 501c3 nonprofits: The City Kids Foundation and the newly formed: OPEN AIR PROJECTS (OAP). City Kids has worked in NYC for nearly 40 years and has partnered with Open Air to manifest this mural.

Open Air Projects is a public art program formed to support cultural equity through mural art. Open Air Projects envisions a world that has healed systemic harms and neglect and revised its history telling and spaces to represent all people fairly. Open Air Projects highlights underrepresented stories through public art to build a culture that supports a more just and equitable world.

MORE ABOUT JUNETEENTH AND THIS MURAL:

Though the Emancipation Proclamation was issued on January 1, 1863, it wasn’t until two and a half years later that Union troops arrived in Texas to free enslaved people in the most remote confederate state, states that continued to practice slavery after it was abolished. Congress passed the thirteenth amendment in January of 1865. It took a year to ratify and effectively abolish chattel slavery and other forms of involuntary servitude in the United States. Though slavery by another name continued throughout many states long after abolition, we maintain our right to be free with this document as our foundation.

This work affirms what belongs to us and is underlined with the awareness that the Thirteenth Amendment is part of a living responsibility to continue shaping this country to reflect what is intrinsically ours.

CREDITS:

The visionary credit behind this project goes to Darius Dennis, VP of Open Air Projects and Painter at Colossal Media. The lead artist and co-organizer for this project is Jared Diaz, President and Founder of Open Air Projects. This project is co-organized with Keyonn Sheppard, Co-Director of the City Kids Foundation. The studio partner behind this project is Medicine Walls, founded by Crystal Clarity and supported by Demetrius Felder.