2) Bronx Children's Museum, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and P.S. 274 recently collaborated in a unique afterschool mural program called GreenArts at Roberto Clemente State Park. From January to May, Bronx Museum artists Javaka Steptoe, Katherine Perez, and Natalie Wood collaborated with a total of 40 2nd and 3rd graders from P.S. 274 to create four gigantic murals in a series of six murals celebrating the Harlem River and its habitat. The first two murals were created last fall with a different group of 40 inspired 2nd and 3rd graders from P.S. 274. All six gigantic murals were unveiled to the families of the children, the park community, school officials and private funders on May 11th. As Elhadj Bah, one student artist noted, "I wish there were more art programs in the Bronx so that kids can draw and paint because sometimes kids need a break from homework and tests." 

All six murals (totaling 120 feet in length) are currently decorating the extensive construction fence surrounding the park's main entrance plaza while the park is substantially renovated. Once the renovations are complete in 2017, the six murals will then be permanently installed inside Roberto Clemente State Park.

According to Natalie Wood, Bronx Children's Museum Program Director, "Bronx Children's Museum is ecstatic to unveil six large scale murals created by children from P.S. 274. The second and third grade artists have been working for the past five months integrating science, art, and community stewardship as a theme together to create six impressive murals. With newfound knowledge about the natural resources in their neighborhood, children of the Morris Heights neighborhood have created whimsical landscapes inspired by the Harlem River. When walking by the park one can explore a nocturnal baseball game where the players are raccoons or a luminous underwater environment exploring aquatic life. By finding inspiration in their own neighborhood students have created a series of murals that will inspire their peers to connect with nature, the environment, and create stewardship."

As Leslie Wright, NYC Regional Director of New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation noted, "NYS Parks has been delighted to partner with BCM and the inspired students of P.S. 274 this year at Roberto Clemente State Park.  The mural program has been a wonderful addition to the park's programming and squarely in line with the agency's mission to provide quality recreation opportunities, nature interpretation and environmental stewardship to all our park patrons.  BCM's fine teaching artists have strengthened the students' connection to the natural environment, their responsibility toward the environment, and given them the precious opportunity to develop the critical skill of artistic self-expression.  The murals inject the park with a colorful joyousness that we are honored to display."

According to Carla Precht, Bronx Children's Museum Executive Director, "For many of us, learning about one's environment and developing empathy and respect for it is heightened when you understand the real live flora and fauna specimens that depend on that environment. Our goal was to support children in creating a textural, visual, and multi-sensory context from which they could learn more about their largest neighbor- the Harlem River- and the ways that they can care for it and its flora and fauna.  Children who had no connection to the Harlem River which sits along their beautiful State park studied the Harlem River habitat from below, above, on the shore, and as a whimsical baseball field and now care for it as if it were their neighbor."

BACKGROUND

ROBERTO CLEMENTE STATE PARK
Roberto Clemente State Park is a 25-acre waterfront park located along the Harlem River in the Bronx. The park offers a variety of recreational and cultural activities year-round for youth, adults and senior citizens alike. The facilities include a multi-purpose recreation building, an Olympic-size pool complex, ball fields, basketball courts, picnic areas, playground and a waterfront promenade along the Harlem River. As the first New York State Park in New York City, the park opened in 1973 as the “Harlem River Park” and was later renamed after Clemente, the first Latino-American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Under the leadership of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, the park is currently undergoing a $35 million renovation to create a greener, more storm-resilient waterfront along the Harlem River to protect the park and neighborhood from flooding, as well as a complete renovation of the park’s upper plaza to create a more welcoming gateway for park visitors. Learn more here.