Painting Community

I art directed the graphics for “Painting Community,” a docuseries about public art across New Jersey, from Newark to Atlantic City, and the impact it has on creating and nurturing community.

Atlantic City

Cuban-Salvadorian artist Manuela Guillén blends culture, identity, and nature to highlight community in Atlantic City.
Working in casinos while honing her creative footing, her artistic journey began in 2014 with her first mural marking a path that mirrors the city’s own transformation. Now, she’s been commissioned to paint the city’s 100th mural, sponsored by the Atlantic City Arts Foundation.

Asbury Park

Activist artist Bordalo II breathes new life into the discarded, shaping towering animal forms from the waste others leave behind.
With the help of the Asbury Park Arts Council and local residents, he transforms their plastic trash into a vibrant mural-sculpture that confronts the passersby with the beauty—and fragility—of the natural world.

Jersey City

As a student in Santiago, Chile, El Cekis was drawn to murals created during political unrest in the 1980s. He taught himself to paint, found his voice, and moved to the U.S. where he connected with Jersey City’s burgeoning art scene. El Cekis is now painting murals at Julia A. Barnes Elementary School and President Barack Obama Community Middle School to help young students find their voice.

New Brunswick

Albertus Joseph moved from the rainforests of Suriname to the Garden State, where he became a passionate graffiti artist to channel the sometimes-unconventional ideas buzzing in his head. His current mural illustrates the racial split that divided New and North Brunswick in 1973–the first of a series depicting scenes from the community’s shared history.

Camden

De’von Downes imagined, painted, and ate together with Resilient Roots Farm to create art inspired by the collective’s values of self-determination and social justice. By honoring its Vietnamese founders alongside Camden’s growing Black and Latine community, the collaboration celebrates cultural resilience and bridges histories to strengthen their collective future.

Newark

“The Golden Life” is a vibrant public artwork in Newark celebrating women from the community and highlighting Black and Brown joy, resilience, and community pride. The multi-walled mural features portraits of women and girls who live or work in the neighborhood, adding local voices to the broad landscape of public art.