From Boring, to Soaring on Bainbridge Street

Residents of Bainbridge Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Stuyvesant Avenue no longer see a blue, boarded fence behind King Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church.

About 25 neighbors grabbed paintbrushes and pails Saturday afternoon and changed the face of the fence into a colorful mural. Neighborhood children teamed with adults and professional artists to create a hodgepodge of images on the once-boring fence.

“It was an eyesore, and now it looks beautiful,” said Warren McDonald, who owns a clothing boutique across the street from the church. “And the artwork is actually very good.”

Bainbridge Street resident Henry Rock, who serves as president of Bainbridge Homeowners and Tenants Block Association, organized the mural painting. Rock became the association’s president in January and he decided that month that the blue fence was dragging down the look of the neighborhood.

In early March, Rock contacted King Emmanuel and asked if painters could use the fence as a mural.

“When the block association came to me, I was all for it,” said Reverend Jesse Sumbry, King Emmanuel’s pastor. “This brings new life into it. That blue was dead and looked ghetto.”

On Saturday at 10:00am, the fence was still a blank, blue wood canvas. Then, as the day eased into afternoon, one person picked up a brush and another grabbed some spray paint. The efforts snowballed from there. By 4:00pm., the canvas was covered in pink, red, orange, green black, yellow and purple.

Greg Pope, 14, whose grandparents live on Bainbridge, shook a can of purple spray paint and added some designs to the mural. Neighbors were in awe of Greg’s work, as he ignored the liquid paint and worked solely with spray paint, adding swirls and outlining the designs of the other painters.

“I like spray paint better, 'cause I’m not good with regular paint,” he said.

The mural painting event was one of many efforts the Bainbridge Street neighbors have used to help spruce up the look of their street, Rock said. Earlier this year, neighbors hung dozens of potted flowers in an effort to add color to the block’s façade.

With warmer temperatures and more activities to do outdoors, many neighborhood groups are launching events designed to beautify their block. In June, group of residents on Monroe Street type of “block beautification” project.

Bainbridge’s mural painting took place as part of the block association’s block party. Aside from painting, neighbors sat outside under the shade and watched children giggle and chase one another down the blocked-off street. Popular R&B music from the 1970s and 80s blasted from a DJ booth.

At the height of the block party, teenage girls started a friendly game of jump rope while the seniors smiled and reminisced on days when they too could jump that fast.

By 6:30 p.m., the mural was complete. The painters stepped back and admired their work. Even the residents who didn’t pick up a brush said the finished art was amazing.

“It looks much better than what it was because at first, it was dilapidated,” said Darryl Freeman, whose family has lived at 175 Bainbridge Street for 53 years.  

The finished mural now features several images, including a man with an elephant’s head, an all black unicorn and a forest of faces. Ron Pretto who lives a few houses down from the blue fence, put a few finishing touches on the mural as everyone else began cleaning up.

“I just hope nobody comes through and defaces it,” Pretto said. “I hope someone just comes by the neighborhood and looks at this as art.”