Our
Impact
30 Years of Groundswell
To date, Groundswell has created over 700 murals in all five boroughs of NYC and worked with over 7,000 young people and over 800 community organizations.
Impact on Youth and Communities
Groundswell’s proven model unites youth, teaching artists, and community partners to co-create powerful art that fosters equity, representation, and civic belonging. Through their work at Groundswell, young people develop technical artmaking skills and important life skills. They learn narrative storytelling through art, engage in mural making or other artmaking processes, build connections between art and activism, and feel a sense of pride in the completed artwork. Ultimately, they learn that they are effective changemakers.
Art Skills:
- Portfolio:Perspective, shading, composition, color theory
- Mural Making:Painting, color theory, fabrication
- Print Power: Perspective, color theory, screen/photocopy/relief printing
- Creative design:Development and use of patterns, use of words/phrases to inspire sketches, building collages
Life Skills:
- Critical thinking
- Leadership
- Collaboration
- Project Management
- Presentation/Public Speaking
Community Impact:
- Increased community dialogue and visibility
- Strengthenedtrust and collaboration around a shared narrative
- Community-led solutions to systemic challengesemerge
- Beautifies neighborhoods
Voices from Our Community
Collectively, our work has uplifted the social justice issues of our time, centering disinvested communities and those impacted by systemic inequalities. It fosters equity, representation, and civic belonging, celebrating diversity and using creativity as a force for justice, connection, and collective expression.
“As a youth muralist with Groundswell, I felt successful every day just getting out of bed to do something creative. It’s not only a positive experience for us as artists, but as activists as well. The murals that we paint are not just pictures but stories that provoke thought to the local people passing by. That’s what I love about Groundswell. They talk about the struggles and problems and start to make change through art.”
Community Partner
“Community murals are more than just art on walls, they are the stories of our communities and the people that make them unique. FAC is so excited to, once again, be working with Groundswell, their teaching and youth artists, and our local community and tenant leaders on two community mural projects this summer that will be on FAC affordable housing and community facility buildings in the future,”
Teaching Artist
“The room is always filled with so much intentionality, thoughtfulness and care. These young people make me feel truly hopeful for the future.”
Students
“Art feels more fulfilling when you’re doing it for the community.”
“It is important for me to have a space to share ideas plus create art work that could possibly affect the state of the world/country”
Corporate Partner
“At Paramount, we believe in the power of storytelling and its ability to spark important conversations and inspire change. We are excited to apply this belief to creative forms outside of content. It’s an opportunity to partner with a purpose-driven organization and the next generation of storytellers to help incorporate meaningful pieces of art to our communities.”
School Partner
