the Beauty of East Harlem is in the Eyes of the Bodega Cats
CAW’s “Bodega Cats” painted Connections Through Time and Space, a youth-created public art commission by L+M / Invesco’s The Crossing, as a love letter to East Harlem.
They call themselves the “Bodega Cats.” They are eighteen NYC residents between the ages of 16 and 24 who gathered in East Harlem to paint a massive mural, 188 feet long and 12 feet high, in the atrium of The Crossing, a mixed-income residential complex currently being redeveloped by L+M / Invesco. While these Youth Apprentices represent the cultural, ethnic, religious, and national diversity of NYC, they were unified by their love of our city and dedicated their summer to creating a work of public art that, “preserves the history, culture, diversity, intergenerational unity, and flavor of East Harlem.” The mural is called Connections through Time and Space.
Project managers from L+M / Invesco offered Creative Art Works (CAW) Youth Apprentices true creative license, provided the mural was consistent with the values of the community and that its aesthetic, subject matter, and symbolism resonated with all local stakeholders. While many of the Youth Apprentices, as well as veteran CAW Teaching Artist Kristy McCarthy, live in Harlem and are familiar with the neighborhood, they nevertheless spent the first week of the program researching East Harlem. In addition to visits to the library and local landmarks, they interviewed ownership, management, and residents of The Crossing, as well as community leaders, including Leona Fredericks, President of the Residents Association and Naomi Smith, Principal of the adjacent Central Park East II elementary school (CPE II). Some of the best ideas came from drawings and suggestions made by the students of the school during earlier CAW workshops, including a bright yellow sun, taken from the school logo.
The final design reflects the vibrant people of the neighborhood and celebrates cultural icons, such as bodega cats, dominoes, park benches, gardens, and nearby landmarks such as Wards Island Bridge and the Graffiti Hall of Fame. The mural, which is visible from the many apartments that face the atrium as well as CPE II, follows a single protagonist through the circle of life from childhood to old age. The protagonist wears a red shirt and carries a flower pot filled with Harlem Poppies on his back. The Harlem Poppies, like the protagonist, grow and then age as they move away from the school (on the far right of the painting). Symbolic images of plants, birds, water, and other elements add depth to the journey.
“We want to congratulate the Bodega Cats. We are really proud of the mural and how it incorporates all the different elements of the school and the local neighborhood to tell a story about the community and about life. We couldn’t have imagined a better or more thoughtful mural. We are very pleased clients.”
Golden Years: The protagonist, now old and gray, plays dominoes with members of his community. The courtyard was undergoing renovations as the mural was being painted. Youth Apprentices had to forbear heat, mosquitos, and the constant rhythm of jackhammers and backhoes.
Inspired by the Graffiti Hall of Fame, Youth Apprentices added their names to the wall.
Childlike wonder: The protagonist of the story chases fireflies, an image inspired by a drawing made by a CPE II student. The protagonist will follow the yellow brick road to his graduation, where all the students wear robes of different colors to reflect their individuality, in keeping with tradition at CPE II.
A bodega cat in its natural environment: Local delis anchor the East Harlem community .
Read about all the members of Team Picasso in our commemorative Brochure
Read the poem that inspired the Theme of the Mural
The Old Agent Soul
by Leona Fredericks
Who are we to judge
The old agent soul who sits
So quiet not uttering a word?
We ask old wise one
Tell us what you saw and felt.
You've lived a full life,
Why do you not wish to share
The many wonders of your paste
With a firm and undaunted stare?
The old soul of time past
Raised her head as straight could be
And said do you really care?
I've been sitting with you
For a many a year, or is it
That you see we share
The same passing of time
And it is now nearing your turn
To be the old agent soul
Who sits and is ignored?
And is it not so now,
You begin to see that there
Is a reflection of yourself in me?
March 17th, 1994
Leona Fredericks is the president of the Resident Association. She was a source of inspiration to the Bodega Cats and a constant booster of the public art youth employment program. The theme of a boy growing from a young child to an old man was borrowed from her poem “The Old Agent Soul” She is seen her adding the first ceremonial brushstrokes to the wall on the first day of painting.
About the Public Art Youth Employment Program
Public Art Youth Employment Programs give teens and young adults full-time summer jobs and part-time jobs after school to create large-scale public art and multimedia projects. Youth Apprentices are guided by professional teaching artists from the initial concept development through client presentation, to the final edit and public unveiling or premiere. Along the way, they gain tangible employment and life skills such as leadership, teamwork, responsibility and the power of taking initiative. They are empowered by the enduring accomplishment in their work of art and its positive impact on the community.
This Public Art Youth Employment program was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor, and the New York State Legislature, and by the Summer Youth Employment Program of the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, and, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and these generous supporters:
Supplies were donated by Celtic Building Supplies, Colony Hardware, Commodore Construction, Newport Painting & Decorating, Pittsburgh Paint, Structure Tone, and Sherwin-Williams.