Last week through a chain of I know someone that knows someone, I got a text message if I knew anyone to paint a community fridge in The Bronx. As I am feeling better and now I can walk almost normal, I immediately volunteered.
Sara and Selma have been providing free food to their community for two months already. They saw what other communities were accomplishing by having a fridge in the street, asking local businesses to donate food at the end of the day, coordinating with community gardens to get fresh produce and checking on the fridge every day a couple of times a day to make sure it is clean and working. While painting it I was impressed by the number of people that used it, to bring and to get food from it. We don't really know how people are struggling until you offer help. This is a mutual aid initiative that has been pretty successful in different parts of the city and I see it is being done in other cities. I will be hopefully painting a few more soon... This one is located at 242 Street and Broadway Ave. In the North Bronx. We had a couple of technical difficulties to paint the fridge. The first day it was so humid that the paint I brought to paint didn't dry, so I had to come back a second time. All worth!!
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Within the past three years, we've been working hard to grow and engage our community. We are excited to share that we will be celebrating three years of art in the community on April 28, 2018!
We would love to share this day with you and would be delighted to have you join us for [Arts]sembly: Art is Community Third Annual Celebration. [Arts]sembly is a fundraiser and cultural art showcase and it will be an evening filled with fun art activities, music, dance performances and artists showcase! Come dance the night away with Uptown Vinyl Supreme, enjoy of the beautiful Alianza Dominicana Folklore Dancers, listen to poetry and the performance of singer, Brandon Tyler. Be re-energized by an Art Exhibition by members of the BxArts Factory, get inspired by Keynote Speakers, create in our Art Stations and participate in our raffle! Food will be available for purchase and will be provided by City Tamale and other food vendors. Please consider joining us and purchasing a ticket to this wonderful celebration. For more details and tickets please visit www.artful.ly/bxartsfactory Thank you for all your support throughout the years. Looking forward to celebrating with you! [Arts]sembly: Art is Community Third Annual Celebration When: Saturday, April 28th, 2018 Where: Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center Address: 530 W 166th St, New York, New York 10032 Time: 6 to 10 pm Tickets: $40 This framed, screenprint of my piece "Bodegón" will be part of the raffle. Don't think it twice and get your tickets now! Do you want to get a BIKE print? I will be donating a couple of those, for the Bronx Cranksgiving and they will be part of the prizes for the participants in the race.
Bronx Cranksgiving is a part bike ride, part scavenger hunt, food drive that helps feed those in need in The Bronx. Whether you choose to casually ride or race, you'll be stopping at different markets in various neighborhoods looking for specific food items that will get donated to Bronx Works and Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice. The requirements are get food and do it on a bike. All you need is a bike, a bag, a lock and some money to buy food. Registration: 1pm Start : 2pm After-party: 6pm For more information visit www.facebook.com/bronxcranksgiving orwww.cranksgiving.org. This is the third year I am one of the selected artists to paint a Sing For Hope Piano. It's such a great experience, that even though it is a lot of hard work and you have to invest many hours, the rewards are tremendous.
To see people approach the pianos in the street, touch them, play pianos for the first time, and hopefully spark something in them to make them find a passion, is invaluable. Stay tuned, we will be having some pop up performances and workshops in Virginia Park, where my piano will be placed from June 6 to June 25 for everyone to play and enjoy. G.I.V.E will be taking care of it while it's placed in the park. I am so thrilled that Nilka and Co are going to be in charged of it so if you want to plan some fun event around the piano, let us know! Sing For Hope is an amazing organization and if you are an artist, you should try volunteering with them, they have many opportunities! Back in September, during the WHEDco weekend walk, BxArts Factory created a fun activity to increase the exposure of the nearby Morning Glory Community Garden. At the same time I engaged the community to help me paint the fence of the garden and beautify the space.
It was a very successful event, many members of the community came, painted and enjoyed the great space they have at the garden, hopefully we encouraged more neighbors to be part of the MGCG and will be enjoying fresh vegetables for their homes. Last Friday I had the opportunity to paint two containers at the East River Compost Yard, part of the Lower East Side Ecology Center. NY Cares brought over a hundred volunteers from L'Oreal USA and they did a great job at painting the artwork I previously draw for them.
I am always happy to beautify this city and promote ecology, sustainability and composting!! Thank you Lia for thinking of me for this project :) This year I am part of the Sing for Hope Piano artists again. It will be at Owen Dolen and we have some events celebrating Art, Astronomy and Music. I hope to see you there Friday, June 10th and Friday, June 17th from 8 to 10pm.
What’s Up With The StarsUsing a combination of naked eye and telescopic views we will explain what is visible in the night sky, you will learn how to navigate it and will view select objects through a telescope. Visions of Sound Using astronomically relevant classical pieces of work, a pianist will play said pieces on the Sing For Hope piano while observers learn about the space. Sing For Hope Pianos For two weeks in June, they bring stunningly painted pianos – each a unique piece of art created by a different artist – to New York City’s parks, streets, and public spaces for anyone and everyone to play. The Sing for Hope Pianos inspire community engagement. ![]() This is the latest mural I've done, to celebrate the The Bronx Music Heritage Center will be opening a new building soon. They are on a mission to beautify the Melrose area where the new building is going to be placed. For that mission, WHEDco has partnered with BxArts Factory. We will be bringing artists to work with the community and make the area happier. I spent a couple of days doing what I do best, creating a colorful piece of art that everyone can enjoy. Visit this mural and other beautiful murals at 163rd St and Melrose Ave, in The Bronx, New York. I had the pleasure of working with Ralph Serrano and KayLove. I want to thank Vanezza and Allison who came out to spray some paint and they were a great help!! With my Eye-Flowers (and sometimes Skull-Flowers) I want to send a message to the viewers, to make them reflect in what we are doing to Mother Nature. I've always been in the green side, and some of the things we are doing to this wold are already coming back to us. We can't keep trashing the oceans and burning our trees to plant transgenic soy beans. Just think about it.
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I am a...Graphic Designer, Illustrator, Educator, Community Activist... ARTIST! All Images COPYRIGHT © 2008-2019, are property of Laura Alvarez Fernandez. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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