Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
The new mural on the southwest corner of Avenue C and Sixth Street was officially unveiled last Sunday during the 39th edition of the Loisaida Festival.
The project, led by Thrive Collective's Murals Art Director Marissa Molina, is described as a "celebration of the neighborhood" in the piece titled "Loisaida Thrives."
Here's Molina and Thrive Collective Executive Director Jeremy R. Del Rio from last Sunday...
We went back a few days later for a better look at the mural...
The wall previously featured the long-running "Alphabet City" mural, which lasted nearly 11 years before falling into disrepair and being repeatedly tagged. It was painted over last summer. The building wall has been a frequent target of vandalism in recent years.
The new mural is part of a 2026 Public Realm grant awarded by the city's Department of Small Business Services to Thrive Collective. Last November, organizers hosted a community gathering at the Lower East Side/Chinatown Family Enrichment Center to help inform the mural's design.
Thrive originated in 1996 on the Lower East Side as a youth center in NYC Public Housing serving primarily Hispanic youth. Today, Thrive Collective partners with schools and communities across the city on mural and arts education projects, connecting artists with students and local residents.
Read more about their work here.
Also helping with the mural — NYC-based artist OuterSource.
Below are the various credits for making this happen...
Mural is lovely, especially like the capitol letter in commUnity. Nice messaging. Thanks for brightening the 'hood.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful and inspiring. My only thought as a concerned resident is if there are plans for some type of residential development such as the property across the street with the pharmacy on the first floor that sat vacant for years. Does anyone know if some type of construction will take place?
ReplyDeleteLovely to see community relevance returned to 6th Street corner art! The prior bizarro painting by a non-Loisaida artist bugged me sooooo much! So, congratulations! Now, let's bring the same free ranging community creativity back to our Sixth Street Community Center! Let's ask those shouting so loudly, with the help of AI social media posts, to chill with their personal programming ideas and bring back open doors, open space to the community center!
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