CITYarts, Inc. is a

nonprofit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

public arts and education organization, focusing on creating murals and mosaics with youth and professional artists.

About

For over 30 years, Tsipi Ben-Haim has been the Executive and Creative Director of CITYarts, Inc. As stated on their website, the mission of CITYarts is to "engage youth with professional artists in the creation of public art, including murals and mosaic. Through this creative process, CITYarts empowers, educates, and connects youth and children locally and around the world to become active participants in realizing their potential and transforming communities." Tsipi Ben-Haim 2013 in Berlin

History

CITYarts, Inc.
was founded in 1989 by Tsipi Ben-Haim. The organization takes part of its name from

Cityarts Workshop Cityarts Workshop was a Non-profit organization, nonprofit community mural arts organization incorporated in 1971. Cityarts Workshop often employed lead artists to work within various communities to create murals. In the 1970, Cityarts Workshop ...

, which closed down after losing its funding in 1988. Since its inception, CITYarts has created over 350 mural projects predominantly in New York City, and seven Peace Walls internationally.

Projects

CITYarts' projects are created under five programs: '
Young Minds Build Bridges
'', '
Community Identity
'', '
Global HeARTWarming
'', '
Kids for Justice
'', and '
Windows of Opportunity
''. These projects are produced and created in under-served communities in the five boroughs of New York City, with the exception of ''Young Minds Build Bridges'', which extends internationally. CITYarts includes a broad constituency of participants in order to expose youth to a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. CITYarts executes its programs through the youth-adult partnership model, in which young people are treated as responsible individuals with the capacity to meet challenges and make decisions. Through this creative process, CITYarts empowers, educates, and connects youth and children locally and around the world to become active participants in realizing their potential and transforming communities.

2022 Projects

Fly Us To The Moon

We Can Stop the Speed of Climate Change

The Next Wave

Windows of Opportunity

What We Bring To The Table

A Bridge to Peace

Our Voices

Restoration: Mosaic Rolling Bench at General Grant National Memorial

Walking with Justice

2021 Projects

*
The Golden Door
' *
The Joker Stairs
' *
The Next Wave
' * Restoration:
Mosaic Rolling Bench at General Grant National Memorial
' *
Always in Bloom
'

The Rolling Bench (1972–1974)

One of CITYarts' projects is ''The Rolling Bench'' at

Grant's Tomb Grant's Tomb, officially the General Grant National Memorial, is the final resting place of Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of the United States, and of his wife Julia. It is a classical domed mausoleum in the Morningside Heights neigh ...

. A 400-foot

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

bench, ''The Rolling Bench'' was described as the largest

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

s project in the country when it was built between 1972 and 1974 by City Arts Workshop, the organization that would later become CITYarts, Inc. ''The Rolling Bench'' was designed by a group of artists and youth, and the work on the bench was led by Chilean-born New York artist Pedro Silva and the architect Phillip Danzig. The benches were not universally popular and there was much debate over whether or not to destroy or move the benches, citing architectural conflict between the neoclassical tomb and the modern, colorful bench. In 1997, the benches were nearly removed by the Park Service as part of the 100th anniversary renovations of

. The Park Service cut out a small section of the benches and lifted it a few inches to assess how difficult it would be to move them. However, ''The Rolling Bench'' was not removed and was restored in 2008 with the help of one of the original artists and many of the original volunteers, together with a group of young artists.Akasie, Jay, "Teaching Children the Benefits of Restoration",''The New York Sun'', August 27, 2008,

, August 12, 2010 It is also a current restoration project undertaken by CITYarts as of summer 2021.

Forever Tall (2001)

''Forever Tall'' was a

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

completed in 2001, as a response to

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, overlooking

Cooper Square Cooper Square is a junction of streets in Lower Manhattan in New York City located at the confluence of the neighborhoods of Bowery to the south, NoHo to the west and southwest, Greenwich Village to the west and northwest, the East Village ...

in the East Village of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The

depicted the

skyline A skyline is the wikt:outline, outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural area, rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the ...

at night with the

twin towers Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

as two columns of flowers. The lead artists on this project were Hope Gangloff and Jason Search. The mural no longer exists as the wall was subsequently painted over to be used for advertising.

Programs

Young Minds Build Bridges

The ''Young Minds Build Bridges'' program strengthens bonds among youth worldwide and helps to foster positive relationships among young people from diverse backgrounds. This program connects youth in NYC and their peers around the globe through ''Pieces for Peace'' art education workshops, the ''Pieces for Peace'' International Traveling Exhibition, and Peace Wall murals and mosaics.

Peace Walls

= Harlem, New York Peace Wall, 2005

= The Pieces for Peace Mosaic Wall is a vibrant 213-foot long (65m), permanent

wall installed at the Jacob H. Schiff Park in Harlem, at 138th St and Amsterdam Ave in New York. This mosaic is one of CITYarts’ most recognizable projects due to its scale and international scope. The mosaic project was an integral part of CITYarts’ first international youth-led initiative, Pieces for Peace. Launched in 2004, the mosaic design was created by artist/illustrator

Peter Sís Peter Sís (born Petr Sís; May 11, 1949) is a Czechs, Czech-born American people, American illustrator and writer of children's books. As a cartoonist his editorial illustrations have appeared in ''Time (magazine), Time'', ''Newsweek'', ''Esquire ...

in collaboration with international youth, and was completed in 2005.Inberg, Tara, "CITYarts, Making a Difference Through the Arts", ''SoHo Journal'', page 20 The project was initially restored by artis
Ricardo Arango
and is currently undergoing restoration with artis
Andres Hoyos

= Karachi, Pakistan Peace wall, 2007

As quoted on CITYarts' Peace Walls website, the Pakistan Peace Wall "was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Grouting and tiling and cementing – apart from being extremely good for those of us who aspire to tone their muscles – actually made one feel useful. It was a nice change – if I fail to get a decent degree I know the perfect career option now – bathroom tiling! It made one realize the reason why humankind in general is going down the drain today: lack of teamwork. The most wonderful part was working with all the beautiful colours and textures and at last actually making it mean something. The wall represents Pieces for Peace and it really is what this city, in fact this whole world, needs desperately at present; protection of its forests and glaciers, of its hundreds of nations and their thousands of cultures and faith."

= Tel Aviv–Jaffa, Israel peace wall, 2010

This Peace Wall mosaic was created in Ajami/Gabalia with the full collaboration of the neighborhood youth and the workshop participants. Under the direction of two artists, Yoav Weiss (Jewish) and Salma Shehade (Arab), 50 after-school workshops took place in

Tel Aviv-Yafo Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

, at the Arab-Hebrew Theatre of Yafo, the

Peres Center for Peace The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, located in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Jaffa, Israel, is an independent non-profit, non-governmental, and non-political organization founded in 1996 by Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of Israel Shimon Pe ...

, and other locations. During this time, CITYarts also worked with the participants to create a neighborhood garden wit
The Council for a Beautiful Israel
They created a Leadership Club, led by the Tabeetha School, to be in charge of the maintenance and care of the wall.

= London, UK Peace Wall, 2012

This Peace Wall mural was created with the help of professional artists Sadie Edginton and Joanna Nowek. Local youth and the public had the opportunity to participate in ''Pieces for Peace'' art workshops and helped create the Peace Wall mural on one of London Overground's walls. The Peace Wall is located at Regents Canal Bridge on Dunston Road (under Haggerston Overground Bridge).

= Berlin, Germany Peace Wall, 2013

This Peace Wall mosaic was produced in the historic ''Mitte'' district of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, on a street "known to many as the 'Street of Tolerance' because of its proximity to the Old Jewish Cemetery, a landmark Protestant church, a historic Catholic hospital, and the Jewish School." In a collaboration between multicultural youth together with students from diverse EU countries and communities, the Peace Wall "connects – not divides – and celebrates the peaceful future that can be realized through the engagement of tomorrow's leaders." The mosaic, located in such an emotionally-charged and historically significant city, serves to reflect on Berlin's "complex and often tragic past while looking forward into a future of peace envisioned by today's generation of European youth."

''Pieces for Peace'' (2002 – present)

''Pieces for Peace'' is a CITYarts project started in 2002. As stated on the CITYarts website, this project "was designed to build bridges of international understanding by bringing together American youth and their peers from around the world to create drawings, paintings, and poems." ''Pieces for Peace'' enables national and international students, ages 12 to 18, to express their own personalized visuals of peace and what peace means or looks like to them, by drawing images on pieces of paper. These drawings are then digitized and uploaded ont
CITYarts' online gallery
and are sometimes incorporated into ''Pieces for Peace'' Traveling Exhibitions around the world. These works have been exhibited at the UN in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Representative images and poems from this massively collaborative art project were incorporated into the design of the Jacob H. Schiff Park mosaic wall, under the artistic direction of the award-winning children's illustrator

, to help share their visions for a more peaceful future and to translate those ideas into personal works of art. To date, there have been over 10,000 Pieces for Peace created, from 88 countries around the world.

= ''Pieces for Peace'' Workshops & Traveling Exhibitions (2005 – present)

= CITYarts' ''Pieces for Peace'' Workshops program welcomes and enables interested individuals, teachers, students, youth group leaders and more to organize a classroom, group, or personalized workshop to create their own ''Pieces for Peace''. Th
''Pieces for Peace'' Traveling Exhibition
features selected ''Pieces for Peace'' created by youths from around the world. This exhibition travels both nationally and internationally. Some exhibition venues include, but are not limited to: # ''Flushing Town Hall'', Queens, NY: September–October 2005. # ''Cork Gallery'', Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, NY: May–June 2006. # ''Jewish Community Center'', New York, NY: July–September 2006. # ''Paper Mill Playhouse'', Millburn, NJ: September–October 2006. # ''Gabarron Foundation Carriage House Center for the Arts'', New York, NY: March–April 2007. # ''Haus der Kunst'', Munich, Germany: July 2007. # ''iEARN Youth Summit'', Cairo, Egypt: July 2007. # ''Beit-Sokolov Center for Journalists'', Tel-Aviv, Israel: September–October 2007. # ''Museo Fundación Cristóbal Gabarrón'', Valladolid, Spain: October 2007. # ''Fundación Casa Pintada'', Murcia, Spain. # ''EU Parliament'', Belgium: October 2009. # ''United Nations Headquarter'', New York, NY: December 2009. # ''American International Toy Fair'', Javits Center, New York, NY: February 2010. # ''Mission of the State of Quatar'', New York, NY: March 2010. # ''Ana Tzarev Gallery'', New York, NY: April–May 2010. # ''Fundacion Marcelo Botin'', Santander, Spain: October 2010. # ''Association Memoire de l’Avenir'', Paris, France: May 2011. # ''Allianz Headquarters'', Berlin, Germany: December 2011. # ''European Capital of Culture (ECOC) Maribor 2012'' Maribor, Slovenia: May 2012. # ''The Saatchi Gallery'', London, United Kingdom: July–August 2012. # ''Centro Sefarad Israel'', Madrid, Spain. January 2014 – 2017. # ''Senator Gillibrand's Office'', New York, NY: November 2016 – present. # ''The Eastern Connecticut State University'' Willimantic, CT: February 2017. # ''The German Consulate'', New York, NY: September 2017 – October 2017. # ''The Jewish Community Center'', Madrid, Spain, September 2017. # ''The Palais des Nations, United Nations Headquarters'', Geneva, Switzerland December 2017. # ''Memoire de L'Avenir'', Paris, France, April 2018. #''Crete Cultural Center,'' Crete, Greece, 2019. #''Culture Center,'' Athens, Greece, 2019. #''Toro Cultural Center,'' Toro, Spain, 2021. #''House of Culture, '' Zamora, Spain, 2022. #''Wetteren Town Hall, '' Wettern, Belgium, 2022. #''Europa Experience Center,'' Vienna, Austria, 2024.

Community Identity

The Community Identity program encourages participating youth and adults to examine who they are and what their neighborhood should look like. During the creative process, they beautify and revitalize their neighborhoods while addressing social and civic issues. Youth, families, and community members collaborate on the creation of permanent murals and mosaics in their neighborhoods led by professional artists.

Following in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton Years 1, 2, and 3 (2017 – 2019)

To celebrate the local cultures of West Harlem, NYC, with a focus on the legacy of

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

, CITYarts began producing and creating mural project #338 in the historic Alexander Hamilton Playground community park in 2017. This project was created in collaboration with the local schools, youth, community, a professional artist ( Hugo Bastidas), artist assistants, volunteers and residents. The 3-year project endeavored to "celebrate the unique community identity of Harlem where Hamilton lived, and inspire youths to follow in his footsteps." The project wa
completed
in the summer of 2019.

Alice on the Wall (in progress)

CITYarts’ mural project #328, ''Alice on the Wall'', is located at Washington Market Park on Chambers Street, between West St and Greenwich St. The mural "was originally created after 9/11 as a way to encourage students at

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School ( ) is a co-ed, State school, public, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in Manhattan, New York City. The school, commonly called "Stuy" ( ) by its students, faculty, a ...

to return to school," as is now in the process of being restored.

Celebrating the Heroes of Our City – Restoration (in progress)

CITYarts’ mural project #327 is the restoration of ''Celebrating the Heroes of our City'', led by artis
Janusz Gilewicz
Located at the Henry M. Jackson Playground adjacent to P.S. 134 in Manhattan, NY., the restoration of the mural "will bring the mural back to its formal glory to pair with the new playground."

Past Forward (2019)

CITYarts’ ''Past Forward'' program was designed "to foster an intergenerational, mutually beneficial relationship between the senior citizens o
JASA Club 76
a senior center on W. 76th street, and local youth." The project is currently in its first phase of production, under lead artis
Kristin Holmes-Linder

Windows to the Future (in progress)

A CITYarts mural is being planned in collaboration with the students of the Murray Hill Academy, in Manhattan, New York.

Visions to the World (in progress)

A CITYarts mural is being planned in collaboration with the students of Hamilton Grange Middle School, in Manhattan, New York.

Beacon of Light (in progress)

CITYarts has plans to collaborate on a mural in one of #333 DYCD's Beacon Centers. Beacon Centers are areas "typically within school that act as an after school community center so youth have somewhere to go if they are not able to go straight home."

Global HeARTWarming

The ''Global HeART Warming'' program celebrates nature and raises awareness about the speed of climate change by inspiring youth to voice their ideas about climate change. Workshops and mural projects inspire youth to encourage change in their families and community, impacting a difference on a global level.

Always in Bloom (in progress)

CITYarts produced and created two projects i
The Urban Assembly School for Green Careers
public community garden in collaboration with professional artists and the local community, to "celebrate nature, sustainability, and raise awareness to the speed of climate change." In the first year, CITYarts plans to produce a redesign of the garden elements, create a mosaic for peace around the fish pond, and in the second year a completed mural on the wall facing the garden.

Kids for Justice

The ''Kids for Justice'' program encourages students "to develop and express their thoughts on justice through art. At-risk youth meet with judicial representatives to discuss justice and social responsibility. Based on the ideas they draw and in design workshops led by professional artists, they create a permanent mural for their school."

Walking With Justice

CITYarts will collaborate with the High School for Law, Advocacy and Community Justice at the Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Manhattan, NY. Their project will paint the front doors of the school, "to ensure that the students get a proper welcome each morning."

Windows of Opportunity

CITYarts' ''Windows of Opportunity'' program "identifies artistically talented youth" to participate in creative projects. According to their website, this program aims at "further cultivating their talents through studies at arts institutions, learning centers, and other special projects. CITYarts also works to connect such talented young men and women with professional artists who offer their support in guidance towards higher education, hands-on experience in studio work, and career advice." The ''Windows of Opportunity'' program notably employs artist Bernard Wiggins, who originally became involved with CITYarts as a youth participant on a mural project when he was twelve years old in 1995.

Controversy

CITYarts' proposed murals in two Chelsea parks were met with anger from the Chelsea community, which

DNAinfo ''DNAinfo'' was an online newspaper that focused on neighborhood news in New York City and Chicago. It was closed down by CEO and owner Joe Ricketts in November 2017 after writers in its New York branch voted to unionize, a move to which Rickett ...

reports was widely excluded from the process. In an article titled, "Locals Irked By 'La-Di-Da' Plans for Kids to Create Murals in Chelsea Parks,"

reports that CITYarts began moving forward with the project without consulting neighbors and local block associations. Bob Trentlyon, a public member of the Waterfront, Parks and Environment committee expressed dismay that CITYarts was "leaving out the community." Additionally, community members felt insulted by Ben-Haim's claim, on a flier she distributed, that Clement Clarke Moore Park "feels abandoned."

People

CITYarts has worked with the following artists: *

*Pedro Silva *Hope Gangloff *Jason Search *Bill Moakler *

Joseph La Piana Joseph La Piana (born 1966) is an American artist based in Brooklyn. Work La Piana’s body of work includes sculptures, works on paper, and paintings. Earlier exhibitions by La Piana include “The Los Angeles Text Project 2,” curated by Er ...

*Duda Penteado *Ricardo Arango *Kevin Galeazzi * Hugo Bastidas
Andres Hoyos
*Michaela Shuster

References

External links

CITYarts, Inc.
– CITYarts homepage
CITYarts, Inc. records
(and predecessor, Cityarts Workshop) a
New-York Historical Society