Building Public Art, Rebuilding a Sense of Community
For the past few months, I have done extensive research on the history of Dominican and Puerto Rican communities in the city of New Brunswick. In my findings, I had noticed that the population of these communities shrunk in the Hiram Market area of New Brunswick, which is now the area off Nielson Ave and Albany Street, where Johnson & Johnson’s national headquarters and the Hyatt Hotel is located. Throughout the 20th century, Johnson & Johnson had continued to expand its headquarters into the city of New Brunswick, destroying and displacing Dominican and Puerto Rican communities. The city turned their heads to this because Johnson & Johnson was giving them business. People were left homeless and jobless with no help. Today, large corporate buildings stand in the place of those homes, with no acknowledgment of the communities that used to live there. I’m here to change that. Throughout my interviews with Jonelsy Gonzalez, Jinson Buri, and Gianfranco Altieri, I have examined the current state of the Dominican and Puerto Rican communities in New Brunswick, as well as how we can properly acknowledge and recognize them through art.
Current Outlook in New Brunswick
When walking around the Johnso n& Johnson campus and the area of the Hyatt, there is not a single thing that represents the Dominican or Puerto Rican cultures. In interviewing students who reside in New Brunswick and other urban areas, it was noted that sometimes they have only felt represented in the local communities when they do something about it. Rutgers University student leader at the Center for Latino Arts and Culture, Jonelsy Gonzalez says, “Corporations have been taking advantage of communities of color for a long time. People’s lives are disregarded and seen as less important than [corporate] profit.” A member of the Association of Latino Professionals for America, Jinson Buri even says, “I feel like my community can be represented in a better light”, and says that the current lack of representation could be “detrimental to the youth” of the local community. These public opinions were proving to me that something should and can be done about this lack of acknowledgment for such a terrible case of environmental racism in New Brunswick. These communities should be properly represented for the past, present, and future generations of Dominican and Puerto Rican New Brunswick Residents.
Community Opinions on an Art Project
Nothing can be done to reverse the past, but what we can do is acknowledge it and help foster a sense of belonging and community to the residents who once lived in the Hiram Market area of New Brunswick. Through a public art installation dedicated to them, we will be able to revitalize the Johnson & Johnson area. When the idea was proposed, community member Buri said, “An art project would be very ideal to help unify,” he continues “It would be helpful if it was paired with a community partnership program.” This is why through collaborations with Johnson & Johnson themselves, we will set up proposals to get their blessing for this project as a way to not fix, but recognize the wrongdoings of their company’s predecessors in expanding their headquarters and displacing hundreds of residents. We also have the potential to gain the blessings of the Center for Non-Profits, the Collaborative Center for Community-Based Research and Service at Rutgers, Community Action Partnership of New Jersey, New Brunswick Cultural Center, and New Brunswick Tomorrow to help assist with and support the project. This pushes the narrative that the city and its local organizations do care for these communities, despite a long history of not showing enough support.
Cultural Artifacts and Symbols in Art
With the help of the interviewees, we have come to a conclusion that the art would consist of cultural artifacts relevant to both the Dominican and Puerto Rican cultures, such as using colors present in both of their flags; red, white, and blue. Blue represents beautiful skies, white represent peace, and red symbolizes bloodshed for their fallen heroes. In particular to the Hiram Market area, it would also be quite historic to use the original brick materials that were used to build the houses in the area as bricks in pathways and retainer walls around the Johnson & Johnson campus. We can infuse the campus with recognition and history lessons to all who visit and work there and help them realize the communities that were there before them. The Dominican shield and flag also feature laurel branches on it, so we can plant Laurel plants in the surrounding areas to add greenery to pathways and landscaping areas.
It had also always been my idea to paint a mural on the side of the Hyatt Hotel on Nielson Avenue. This blank wall on the side of the Hyatt could potentially feature all of these different colors in it as well. This would help symbolize and recognize that there was once Dominican and Puerto Rican houses on this land too. Unlike the construction and groundwork involved in implementing the rest of the project, this is just painting. I believe that a communal mural where community members can come together at an event and paint the mural themselves can help foster a deeper sense of community. With members of local government and community taking part hand in hand in this project, it can hopefully mend some of the tension built throughout the past few decades. Gonzalez agreed that a collaborative art project would “be a beautiful way to be represented with my community”. Cognitive science student and artist Gianfranco Altieri also states, “practicing art will use your visual association cortex, thereby promoting neuronal growth and stimulate pleasure in one’s surroundings.” This is exactly what I want to happen through this project. I want people to feel pleased with their surroundings and be proud to point out this area to their friends and families, whereas they may not feel like they can do that now.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I want this to be a mural and art project for all. I want this to be a project for the Dominican and Puerto Rican communities that feel underrepresented. I want this to be a project for the local citizens of New Brunswick, to beautify the area. And I want this to be a mural for Johnson & Johnson, to have them truly recognize their past and build a more inclusive future. Through using cultural artifacts and opinions from the members of the community, I truly feel like we can make this space by the Johnson & Johnson campus a more recognizable area for the families that used to live there. I would like to thank all my interviewees, Jonelsy Gonzalez, Jinson Buri, and Gianfranco Altieri for helping me become aware of the feelings of community and all together create a project that is not only beautiful but can benefit the community in more ways than one.
