New York state and local officials celebrated two new murals in downtown Albany Tuesday.
The murals seen on Broadway and Columbia Street are the result of a $72,000 grant from the state’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative to the Capital Walls project, which plans to add four murals to the Clinton Square neighborhood. New York State Assemblymember Pat Fahy was among several Capital Region officials at the unveiling Tuesday. She says the works couldn’t have come at a better time.
"Art soothes the soul, and if COVID has taught us one thing, it's that we need a lot of soul soothing," says Fahy.
The Albany Center Gallery, Albany Barn, and Downtown Albany BID worked together to organize the projects. Together, the murals take up roughly 3,300 square feet across two multi-story buildings.
Virtual designer Jade Warrick was selected for the Broadway-facing artwork overlooking the Hudson River – a vibrant piece featuring a young woman of color surrounded by sunflowers and butterflies.
“As a kid, I found going into the forest and just hanging out by a lake something that really, really calmed me, and kind of put me in tranquility," she explains. "And you'll see, there's a necklace up there. That symbol is actually a West African symbol, a bond that acttually represents love, strength, and tranquility."
Warrick is no stranger to the Albany mural scene. As founder and co-head of Amplified Voices, a community arts program dedicated to promoting artists of color, she led students in two separate projects this summer: one covering up an abandoned McDonald’s on South Pearl Street, and another wrapping around the corner of North Swan and Third Streets.
At a time when Albany, like most cities across the country, is deep in discussion about racial justice, Warrick says it’s about lifting the voices of people of color, and creating artwork that reflects the residents of the community.
“I wanted a positive representation of a person of color – body positive, like I want adults of all ages to just go up there and look and be like ‘I’m being seen, that represents me,'" adds Warrick. "Or, 'That's something that I want to be. I want to just be outside and enjoy nature.' Maybe that's something that I don't get enough [of], being in the inner city. Maybe that's something that I want to explore."
"Our piece is 'Sawubona'...I see you, I appreciate you, I value you, and you're very important."
The second mural on Columbia Street carries a similar message. Riiisa Boogie, one half of the Poughkeepsie and Brooklyn-based duo “BoogieREZ,” has adorned her canvas in a vivid collage of patterns and word art, telling pedestrians, “U are necessary beyond explanation,” and “Your strength moves mountains.”
"Our piece is “Sawubona,” which is a greeting in Zulu, but more than a greeting: 'I see you, I appreciate you, I value you, and you're very important," Boogie explains. "We need each other to move forward."
Both artists were still braving the cold to place the finishing touches on the projects Tuesday. The Capital Walls project plans to add its next two murals in 2021.
