Henry Street Gets Artsy!
By Allison Rowe
Henry Street after-school youth were featured front and center at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday for a 210-foot wide CITYarts mural painted by community members at Henry M. Jackson playground, located across the street from 301 Henry Street, the Settlement’s main youth building. Dozens of enthusiastic Henry Street youth danced and crowded around WABC-TV News Anchor and Master of Ceremony Lori Stokes as she introduced the first speaker for the event, Camp Henry camper Chasity Santiago Crespo.
Chastity worked on the commemorative 9/11 mural over the summer with her Camp Henry group. She thanked Henry Street Settlement and CityArts for affording her the exciting opportunity to work on New York City’s first 3D outdoor mural, which is entitled “Celebrating the Heroes of Our City…For a Better Future.”
Also in attendance were the firefighters of Engine 15 who are depicted in the mural, primary artist Yanusz Gilewicz, as well as representatives from event sponsors Disney and DoSomething.org.
