63rd Collaborative Mural: Interview with artist Yvonne Shortt

"63rd Drive is known for a lot of things but never
an exhibition space," says long time resident Yvonne Shortt who also
happens to be the Executive Director of the Rego Park Green Alliance. For six
years the Rego Park Green Alliance has worked in Rego Park doing everything
from planting sustainable gardens to holding creative challenges in 3D
printing. And, now they are creating a new installation on 63rd Drive
that will encompass a mural and photography exhibition.

The Rego Park Green Alliance and a group of committed volunteers have put in over 500 hours on the project and thousands of dollars. And, we are happy to be here with Yvonne Shortt to ask her five questions about the project.

Q: What is the big idea

Get rid of the crappy grey colors associated with underpasses in the hubs of Queens communities. I mean, almost every community in Queens has an underpass and almost all of them are a crappy gray, have patches of odd colors, and are dirty. This is a disgrace and honestly I just need a couple more like minded folks to turn this thing into a movement so we can do it in other communities.

Q: How did you come up with the idea

A: Actually 6 years ago we put our first mural up in that exact location. That mural launched the Rego Park Green Alliance (RPGA). It was a collaborative mural that involved over 130 community members. Then, three years in, it started to peel. By that time we had done 5 other murals and none of the other murals had peeled, so I was wondering why did it happen. At the same time, we were also in conversations with the DOT about taking up the dirt on either side of the pathway on 63rd Drive and putting in more cement so people could actually walk under the overpass. We also started conversations with our councilmember about what we could do about it being cleaner. We organized cleaning events, formed committees, and advocated hard!

Fast forward 3 more years and we had negotiated the DOT putting in a wider pathway and Council Member Koslowitz had indeed put up money to have the Doe Fund help keep the underpass clean. So I thought we had to go back in and redo the mural. But, by this point, I wanted to think bigger than a mural in my own community. All of our projects have always involved not just the beautification of an area but solving a problem in a wider context. So I thought, let's really do this right. Let's have an art installation complete with a mural and huge photography exhibit. And, let's create the Underpass Art Movement to eradicate crappy grey walls located in the hubs of communities on overpasses owned by the LIRR

Q: Who helped make the idea a reality

A: These kind of programs never happen in a vacuum. You need support from a lot of people. Let's see, first RPGA came up with an architectural rendering we had to get approved by the LIRR. Then. we had to figure out how to pay for the darn thing. I mean the Diana f+ cameras we used to walk around the community with people as far away as PA, 10 cameras n total, were $1,000. The film was another $500, Then, we had to power wash the wall for around $2,000. And there was another $2000 to mount the photography, and supplies to have 40 people paint a mural, and the paint... We took it one step at a time and found partners in the church, Our Saviour: New York. Also individual donations and some businesses along 63rd Drive helped. And CCNY (Citizens Committee for New York), helped. CCNY is amazing and we are lucky to have them as a community partner.

Q: What have you learned

A: Very rarely do the big guys pitch in. Rego Park is anchored by two huge malls, but neither of them helped financially. Perhaps our sponsorship package wasn't as appealing as some other organizations. Perhaps, next time. I learned to move on very fast. I also learned that although many people have ideas very few have follow through. Idea people are great but you need people committed to the project to make it a success. I'll take a hard worker any day! And, many of our volunteers really worked hard.

Q: How is the community receiving it

A: All is good. Everyone is happy and people are emailing me about when and where is the next one.

To learn more about the Rego Park Green Alliance visit www.regoparkgreenalliance.org