Friends of Astoria Heights Park is pleased to announce that we’ve begun work on our first major project— a colorful and exuberant painted mural that will cover the two walls behind the workout area and swings on the South side of the playground. Here are some before-and-after pictures (photographs by Adam Cohen) to help you visualize the impact of this undertaking.

Designed by local artist and member of Friends of Astoria Heights Park, Lenore Koppelman, this mural will be more than the sum of its playful depictions of floral and fauna. It will be a major community-building project, intended from the outset to bring everyone in our neighborhood together as genuine stakeholders in our playground. We want to make Astoria Heights playground one of the most beautiful, exciting, joyful, and safe public spaces in New York City, and we know this will only be possible with the regular involvement of our fellow neighbors. The mural project is a first step, a fabulous project in and of itself but also a declaration of intent to accomplish so much more. For a list of our priorities, click here.

Below is Lenore’s concept sketch for the mural. It really is beautiful, but just as important if not moreso will be the shared efforts of the volunteers who help win approval for it and help implement it and devote time to its upkeep and who recognize that it’s only the beginning.

Concept sketch by Lenore Koppelman.