The Mural Project

Celebrating Community Gardeners and Farmers in the Bronx

Each year NYBG commissions public murals celebrating Bronx gardeners and farmers featured in the Bronx Foodways Oral Histories Project.

Each year NYBG commissions two public murals celebrating Bronx gardeners and farmers featured in the Bronx Foodways Oral Histories Project. And in 2022, as part of our summer exhibition, Around the Table: Stories of the Foods We Love, we’re working with Bronx muralist André Trenier to celebrate two beloved figures in the borough whose long-time commitment to supporting their communities with fresh food, refuge, and education has had a transformative effect on their neighborhoods.

Trenier’s first completed mural for 2022 celebrates Karen Washington, a community leader and trailblazer who co-founded East Tremont’s Garden of Happiness in the late 1980s, and later helped launch City Farms Market and the New York City Community Garden Coalition. Today Washington co-owns Rise & Root Farm in Chester, New York, and we’re proud to have her serving on the NYBG Board.

The project’s second mural, to be completed this summer, will highlight Abu Talib, co-founder of Taqwa Community Farm in the Highbridge neighborhood. Stay tuned!

2022

  • A colorful mural in blues, yellows, and greens covers the front of a gray building, depicting a woman with long gray dreadlocks, arms opened and lips upturned. Three additional people in colorful clothing are arrayed beneath her, working with fruits and vegetables. It says "Garden of Happiness" on a painted banner across the top.

In 2022, as part of our summer exhibition, Around the Table: Stories of the Foods We Love, we worked with Bronx muralist André Trenier to celebrate two beloved figures in the borough whose long-time commitment to supporting their communities with fresh food, refuge, and education has had a transformative effect on their neighborhoods.

Trenier’s first completed mural for 2022 celebrates Karen Washington, a community leader and trailblazer who co-founded East Tremont’s Garden of Happiness in the late 1980s, and later helped launch City Farms Market and the New York City Community Garden Coalition. Today Washington co-owns Rise & Root Farm in Chester, New York, and we’re proud to have her serving on the NYBG Board.

Located at 2157 Southern Boulevard and East 182nd Street, the first mural celebrates Karen Washington, her Garden of Happiness, and several other urban gardening collaborators. The mural’s location is provided by Phipps Houses, the oldest and largest non-for-profit developer, owner, and manager of affordable housing in New York City.

2023

  • A group of people poses for a photo in front of a large painted mural on a brick building wall

André Trenier’s 2023 mural was painted at the Neighborhood Advisory Committee Community Garden in the Bronx. This is the second mural captured under the Bronx Foodways Oral Histories Project at NYBG.

Located at 360 E 151st St., Bronx, NY 10455, the second mural captures the abundant beauty, history, and community of Neighborhood Advisory Committee Community Garden as we celebrated the garden’s 40th anniversary. It honors gardeners and activists Marty and Francine Rogers, along with other community members and partner organizations.

Martin (Marty) and Francine Rogers put love into action as founders and long-term devotees of the Neighborhood Advisory Committee Garden. Inspired by the brilliance of Brother Ed, Marty, Francine, and other community members began developing an empty lot– previously a residential building– into a community garden under the Neighborhood Advisory Committee’s mission to reintegrate disabled people into the community. The garden kept the name of the Neighborhood Advisory Committee and became one of the first gardens completely designed with disabled and elderly people in mind. Over the years, the garden received a lot of support from organizations like Green Thumb, Green Guerillas, and Bronx Green Up.

The mural’s location is provided by Immaculate Conception Church and the Bronx Documentary Center. BDC is also our partner and collaborator for the Oral Histories Project; all the portraits and garden photos for the project were taken by their students.

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