Voices Her’d
Woman Rise
BRC Women’s Shelter, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn New York. 2009
Woman Rise is a mural that exemplifies women’s struggles and the paths taken to rise above those issues. The mural was created in partnership with the Bowery Residents’ Committee (BRC), a transitional housing residence for homeless women. The Voices Her’d mural team chose to create a universal image that recognized struggle, hope, and solidarity as essential themes relating to all women.
The young artists’ research was extensive, combining statistical information and meetings with public officials and social justice organizations, with personal interviews and anecdotes from the women of the Bowery Residents’ Committee.
They also looked closely at art that addresses complex social structures, including art from ancient Egypt. After getting to know some of the resident women, the mural team gained new awareness about homelessness in New York City.
It is the hope that women will be able to identify with the imagery of transformation in the mural and relate it to their own personal experiences.
Learn more at groundswellmural.org
Groundswell Community Mural Project: Voices Her’d
Yamasaki was lead artist for this series for about eight years. Voices Her’d creates a space for young women, in particular young women of color, to be the creators of the visual media about them. The girls in the group, ages 14-20 selected the topic they wanted to address and in many years, spent the year researching the topic and meeting with experts in the field. Then, for seven weeks in the summer, the created a large public mural that communicates their message about that topic.
2004 – I Deal, I Dream, I Do. Park Slope, Brooklyn
2005 – A New Day. Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
2006 – Feels Like Home: An Immigrant Journey. Sunset Park, Brooklyn
2007 – Art Builds Community, Community Creates Social Change. Park Slope, Brooklyn
2008 – Informed, Empowered. Sunset Park, Brooklyn
2009 – Woman Rise. Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
2010 – Truth be Sold. 2836 Fulton Street. Cypress Hills, Brooklyn