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Mosholu Playground Adds New Mural, as Mural Project for Azalea Garden Remains on Hold

Mosholu Playground’s “Natural Elements” mural, designed by Lady K Fever, is part of the Friends of Mosholu Parkland’s, Murals on Mosholu (MOM) program.
Photo by Miriam Quinoñes

Celebrating its 53rd year, the purpose of the NYC Parks’ public arts program, Art in the Parks, is to use public space across all five boroughs as an outdoor museum, letting works of art “loose in the city, to set them under the light of day, where they intrude upon our daily walks and errands.”

 

Lady K Fever’s three murals, ‘Birds Eye View,’ ‘Soaring,’ and ‘Natural Elements,’ painted on the surrounding walls of Mosholu Playground have been in existence for almost four years and are a sight to behold. ‘Natural Elements’ is a visually stunning mural depicting insects and birds, and recently received a new addition, a bigger than life-size squirrel, along with additional leaves.

 

The murals also form part of Friends of Mosholu Parkland (FOMP)’s programming. Collectively, they are called Murals on Mosholu (MOM), and FOMP are encouraging residents to visit and check out the updated artwork. “It’s a beautiful site and very heart warming!” said Elizabeth Quaranta, executive director with FOMP.

Mosholu Playground’s “Natural Elements” mural, designed by Lady K Fever, is part of the Friends of Mosholu Parkland’s, Murals on Mosholu (MOM) program.
Photo by Miriam Quinoñes

FOMP Community Arts is the group’s arts and education outreach program that explores connections with the parkland and the community through participatory public arts events and workshops. Its purpose is to create public art projects that transform the community through participatory, site-specific, public art installations that highlight the natural resources of the parkland.

 

Quaranta said the murals are open to community volunteers to come, participate, shade, fill in, or offer comments. The more detailed work is carried out by the principal muralist, Kathleen Howie, aka Lady K-Fever who, Quaranta said, also finishes off each one with her top layer talent.

 

Quaranta said that current works are on hold due to the pandemic, but anyone interested in joining in on a future project can get in touch via the Facebook group, Murals on Mosholu.

Community members working on the Mosholu Playground “Natural Elements” mural, designed by Lady K Fever.
Photos by Miriam Quiñones via Facebook.

According to the City’s Parks’ department, over the years, Parks’ representatives realized that untapped public spaces became coveted outdoor galleries in which to display contemporary art, and the new forum provided a stage for emerging artists to display their work and reach wider audiences. They said hundreds of artists have exhibited their works in New York City parks, demonstrating an astonishing array of styles, forms, materials and concepts.

 

The department said that through collaborations with a diverse group of arts organizations and artists, it brings to the public both experimental and traditional art in many park locations. The art works can be displayed in prominent flagship parks, neighborhood parks and playgrounds, as well as on traffic islands.

 

Temporary installations are defined by an exhibition period of less than one year, typically remaining on view for three to six months. The works range from steel constructions, to installations made from an assortment of organic biodegradable media, and the public installations have helped launch careers and showcase the work of long-established artists.

Mosholu Playground’s “Natural Elements” mural, designed by Lady K Fever, is part of the Friends of Mosholu Parkland’s, Murals on Mosholu (MOM) program.
Photo by Miriam Quinoñes

Lady K-Fever lives in the local community and has worked on several arts projects with FOMP. In a Facebook post dated August 2020, the group paid tribute to her on being recognized for yet another award. “Our Mosholu artist, Kathleen Howie, has been recognized for the 2020 B.R.I.O Award in Street Art in the Visual Arts Category!! Congratulations!! Well deserved,” the post read.

 

Meanwhile, Bronx Council of the Arts describes the muralist as an internationally recognized, Bronx-based, graffiti street artist, activist, educator, and curator who specializes in producing unique, social engagement arts and education projects that focus on community through collaboration, compassion, liberation, empowerment, and healing.

Mosholu Playground’s “Natural Elements” mural, designed by Lady K Fever, is part of the Friends of Mosholu Parkland’s, Murals on Mosholu (MOM) program.
Photo by Miriam Quinoñes

Lady K-Fever was a recipient of Assemblyman Jose Rivera’s Excellence in Community Service Award in 2016, and became an AIM Fellow with the Bronx Museum in 2018. Her work has been exhibited by the New York Sanitation Department: Trucks of Art; New York City Parks Department, Art in the Parks: 2015-2019; Department of Transportation Arts; The Bronx Museum; Montefiore Hospital, Art in Odd Places; and Intermedia Arts and Longwood Art Gallery.

 

She has also been featured in a number of publications, including CBS news, ABC news Fox5, WPIX 11, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, The NY Daily News, Norwood News, and in various books, including Street Messages, Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents, We B Girls, Burning New York: Graffiti NYC and The Bronx Artist Documentary Project.

Mosholu Playground’s “Natural Elements” mural, designed by Lady K Fever, is part of the Friends of Mosholu Parkland’s, Murals on Mosholu (MOM) program.
Photo by Miriam Quinoñes

There was some good news for artists, on Friday, Dec. 12, when New York City Council passed a new bill, sponsored by Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer that would require the City to create an “Open Culture” program, allowing eligible art and cultural institutions or cultural venues to use approved open, public street space for artistic or cultural events. The program would be similar to the concept of the “Open Restaurant” outdoor dining program launched this year. An application fee of $20 for participation in the program would apply to cover costs and “to discourage frivolous applications.”

 

City officials said the program will go live on March 1, 2021 and remain in effect until Oct. 31, with the possibility of an extension. However, it will expire on March 31, 2022. The program has been established by the Mayor’s Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management (CECM), in consultation with the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Department of Buildings (DOB), the Police Department (NYPD), the Fire Department (NYFD), and it may also involve other city agencies designated by the mayor. DOT is required to share a list of eligible spaces for the program by Feb. 1, 2021.

Mosholu Playground’s “Natural Elements” mural, designed by Lady K Fever, is part of the Friends of Mosholu Parkland’s, Murals on Mosholu (MOM) program.
Photo by Miriam Quinoñes

Meanwhile, as previously reported by Norwood News, FOMP are still in a battle with the MTA to paint a separate mermaid mural, also designed by Lady K Fever, on a park wall adjacent to Mosholu subway station, behind the Azalea Garden, located at Jerome Avenue and Mosholu Parkway.

 

The MTA owns the wall even though it borders the parkland, and so far, the agency has refused to provide permission to FOMP to go ahead with the mural, citing a requirement to maintain its upkeep, which FOMP committed to doing, since they are already doing it anyway. The MTA also said that any arts project authorized by the agency would have to go through its “openly advertised selection process, accessible to all members of a community, with selections made by a diverse panel including arts professionals, MTA staff and local community members.” 

Mosholu Playground’s “Natural Elements” mural, designed by Lady K Fever, is part of the Friends of Mosholu Parkland’s, Murals on Mosholu (MOM) program.
Photo by Miriam Quinoñes

FOMP had been under pressure to complete the mural by the end of the year as the group had received specific funding for the Azalea Garden project, making the MTA’s refusal of their application all the more frustrating. Quaranta has since confirmed that the project may be salvageable. “We will not lose the grant, since the goal [of the grant] was to expand the Azalea Garden, and put up a mural for seniors in the park,” she said. Quaranta has since made a mini-documentary about the project, which can be viewed here.

 

 

“Due to COVID, and the accelerating rates these past few weeks, we have to step back with volunteers. We are going back to Parks to talk about a spring 2021 installation instead.” She added that the group may consider an alternative art installation at the same site, without the actual mermaid mural. “Where there is a will, there is a way,” said Quaranta. “This must hold true for community development, for growth.”

 

 

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.

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