What Sustains Us mural

The 2021 Jewish Street Art Festival, of which I am the founder and director, presented a series of murals as a part of Dwelling in a Time of Plagues, a coast-to-coast Jewish artistic response to contemporary plagues. The circumstances of the pandemic exacerbated the existing crisis of food insecurity. Meanwhile, an unexpected consequence of the pandemic has been reconnecting us to how and what we eat as we spent more time at home. This mural at Repair the World Brooklyn is one half of a paired set of murals (the other at JCC Harlem) called "What Sustains Us," with faces and bodies made out of food and eating utensils that offer fun and whimsical encouragement to think about all that connects our bodies to what we eat. Repair the World's office, which used to host and social services, had pivoted to food distribution and wanted the space to remain welcoming while closed. Meanwhile, the block had become full of vacant storefronts. This mural brightens the block, and still allowed staff to see outside through the spoon-windows.

I was inspired by two quotes bracketing the beginning and end of Birkat Hamazon (the traditional prayer said after eating), with one quote in each mural. The blessing of "Hazan et hakol," translated as "who sustains everything," and appearing in stylized letters in the top right corner of this mural, prompts us to consider the ways that we are sustained through food. Food nourishes us physically, of course, but how does it nourish us emotionally? How does food sustain connections to family, community, and history?

The Jewish Street Art Festival Passover 2021 – Contemporary Plagues, featuring murals in NYC, Charlotte, and Toronto, was produced by me and Asylum Arts, in collaboration with LABA, and made possible with the generous support of CANVAS.