Art students from Young Urban Christians & Artists Inc. (YUCA) will paint a mural on the winterization shack and pantry for the Mott Haven Community Refrigerator on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2020, at 11 a.m. at the intersection of 141st Street and Saint Ann’s Avenue in the Bronx. A rain date is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 21.

Created by two local sixth grade teachers, Daniel Zauderer and Charlotte Alvarez, in response to witnessing hunger among their students’ families, the Mott Haven Community Refrigerator is a freestanding outdoor refrigerator providing all community members with 24/7, no-questions-asked access to fresh food and other essentials.

The fridge underwent its first transformation from residential refrigerator to functional public art when it was painted by well-known Bronx artist, Rocio Marie, in October. This Saturday, the fridge will undergo another metamorphosis as YUCA art students work with YUCA Instructors, Aneudys Santana, Nancy Mendez and Aaliyah Atances, to paint a mural on the fridge’s new winterization shack and pantry.

The painting day is the culmination of a free, six-week, online art class by local non-profit YUCA Arts, whose goal is for students to engage with the creative process while exploring social justice issues impacting the Bronx. “Having the students work on a mural collaboration project with the Mott Haven Fridge makes sense,” said YUCA’s executive director, William Acevedo. “The quality of their work is representative of Bronx culture and the social justice issues Bronx youth are facing today.”

Co-creators of the fridge project, Alvarez and Zauderer, expressed their excitement about hosting the South Bronx teens for Saturday’s event. “As teachers ourselves, we can’t think of a better way to paint the shack,” they said. “Students deserve this opportunity, and we are confident that their creative vision will help to transform the Mott Haven Fridge from a temporary flicker of hope into a longstanding fixture of public art in New York City’s forgotten borough.”

As reported previously by Norwood News, the community fridge was officially launched on Monday, October 12.