Can art unleash the power of community?
IMPACCT Brooklyn thinks it can. That’s why we’re teaming up with muralist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh to promote a visible understanding of gentrification and give voice to underserved members of our community.
Tatyana, a BedStuy resident, is the New York City Commission on Human Rights’ public artist in residence. Most of her work focuses on anti-black racism and gender-based harassment – two unfortunate side effects of the gentrification we’ve seen sweep through our neighborhoods.
“My work talks about issues black people, women in particular, experience,” Tatyana started. Her artwork is inspired by the people she interacts with every day, and she bases her murals off conversations with BedStuy residents about their experiences as a black man or woman in the city. Doing so “allows people to see their experiences and faces reflected back in the community.”
These messages resonated with Bernell Grier, our executive director, who realized that art can complement our work and improving the surrounding neighborhood. She invited Tatyana to place murals on the outside walls of IMPACCT Brooklyn properties.
“IMPACCT Brooklyn’s core values are to promote equality within Brooklyn,” Bernell said. “Our staff and are clients reflect the population of central Brooklyn which for decades has been predominately members of the black diaspora, and the statements Tatyana makes reflect the feelings we experience every day in the communities we serve.”
“It’s important for community members to see figures who look like them and were based off their experiences, which is why I thought it was important to work with IMPACCT Brooklyn,” Tatyana added.
So far, Tatyana has installed two wheat paste murals by our 1224 Bedford Avenue offices. One features local women from Girls for Gender Equality with the message, “to be free without fear that my body will be seen as an invitation, or my blackness as a threat”; the other features a young black man with roses and the phrase, “let black men be soft.”
Gentrification causes existing cultures to clash with new cultures, and both Bernell and Tatyana hope the murals will bridge communities, rather than deepen an existing riff between new and old residents.
“I know my work has sparked conversation and dialogue already in the community,” Tatyana said. “One work was defaced because someone didn’t like the message, but other people did. Hopefully the murals allow people to see themselves in the work and sparks conversation around issues in the black community.”
“This art helps to provoke thought,” Bernell said. “How are long term residents viewed? How do we make statements that create awareness and help to build respect?”
Tatyana and IMPACCT Brooklyn are in talks to install more murals throughout the BedStuy area in the near future.
IMPACCT Brooklyn counts on the generosity of caring people like you to ensure we have the resources to help as many of our neighbors as possible. Donate today to support our vision of an economic, racial, and cultural diverse Brooklyn.
