Art in the Hood: Rite Aid Mural on 4th Becomes New Local Landmark

The mural on the Rite Aid store at 63rd street and 4th Avenue is well on it's way to becoming a new local landmark. The completed mural depicts scenes of Brooklyn but none of the neighborhood. The manager had told me that they were discussing doing a mural  on the Rite Aid on 5th and hopefully that will include scenes of the neighborhood such as the gate at Greenwood Cemetery or Battle Hill where an important engagement of the Battle of Brooklyn took place. Whatever turns out the mural on 4th is a nice piece of  mural art which has evolved from graffiti.  As time goes on and more people in the neighborhood become aware of it the more it will become known. Below are links to our previous postings on the mural since it's inception. Of note is also the fact that this Rite Aid becomes one of the few pharmacies in Brooklyn that is now open 24 hours..

Related Link: Art in The Hood: Rite Aid on 4th gets a new paint job

Related Link: Changes on the wall...

More photos below..

Changes on the wall...

A slight controversy arose at the painting of the Mural at Rite Aid on 4th and 63rd street. Apparently management at Rite Aid did not want any human faces on the wall (photos below) and asked that they be replaced by animals instead. The new version is the one that will remain. I managed to snap a picture of the wall before the changes so we can keep it for posterity. In any case, the walls are coming along just fine and will be a fine addition to the many points of interest in the neighborhood. Maybe it will entice our neighbors in Park Slope and Bay Ridge to venture across the frontiers of our neighborhoods to come take a look. Being as most people in this city according to one study I read, rarely venture outside a radius of 7 blocks from where they live. Part of the purpose of this blog is to cover the nabe from end to end as well as our neighbors who all have something to offer so we can appreciate the world around us beyond those seven blocks..

While speaking to who I think was the manager he told me they are considering doing the wall on the Rite Aid on 5th and 53rd street. I suggested they could use a more local theme such as the entrance gates at Green Wood Cemetery or the statue of Minerva (sister to the Statue of Liberty, maybe perhaps a scene from the Battle of Brooklyn which took place on Battle Hill where the Delaware regiment sacrificed themselves to prevent the British from capturing Washington. There are a lot of themes one could come up with which are relevant to the nabe and it's history and it would be Brooklyn themed.

As it looks now.

Before..

Art in the Hood: Groundswell Mural on 7th Ave and 63rd street

I took this and the following shots a while ago and never got around to posting them. But since my post yesterday highlighting another mural on 4th Avenue I figured I would post these. This mural known as the Groundswell Mural is on the overpass on 7th Avenue and 63rd street. It was painted over two years ago and you can read all about it here with accompanying links to a slide show. There are other murals I have shot as well. I will have to dig up the pics or go back and reshoot them. Sunset Park has a lot of art on it's walls..

Art in The Hood: Rite Aid on 4th gets a new paint job

One thing about Sunset Park is that it has a lot of murals and a new one is going up at the Rite Aid on 4th and 63rd street. The work is being done by urban artist "Angel VASE ONE Garcia and his assistant based out of the Czech Republic Dmitrij Proskin who goes by the tag Chemis. They still have a ways to go but it does seems as if the have quite a bit of it done already. Angel related to me that he has a contract to paint many of the Rite Aid Pharmacies' side wall and he has already completed a number of them. Maybe they will get to do the Rite Aid on 5th and 53rd. That would be nice. They both have websites you can visit where they showcase their work. you can catch Jorge at VASEONEUW.COM  and Chemis you can catch at CHEMISLAND.COM . The entire thing is being coordinated by a guy who goes by the tag The Royal King Bee (They all have tags) whose website is KINGBEEUW.COM. Maybe I should do a series on all the murals that you can find in Sunset Park. That should keep me busy for a while. Walls have become the new canvas of the urban landscape and neighborhoods the new museums. It will be interesting to see what the wall will look like when they are finished.

Jorge Garcia AKA VASE stands in front of the section he was working on.

Dmitrij Proskin AKA CHEMIS in front of the section he was working on.

Some shots of the work in progress..

Revised 10-4-2013

 

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Coming soon: Sunrise Family Pharmacy

Located on the corner of 64th street and 4th Avenue is a new pharmacy that will be opening any day now.I must admit that the out of the way location is an odd place to put a pharmacy as you would have to cross 4th avenue to get there from the rest of the neighborhood. If my memory serves me correctly the spot was once held by a plumbing supply store that had been there for many years. On the side is a dead end street and the timing may jot be auspicious since they will soon begin construction of an HOV ramp there to augment the present ramp going into the Gowanus. I suspect the plans are to serve a niche population, perhaps Russians (notice the Russian Cyrillic word AIITEKA for Apothecary on the awning). This begs the next question, do these people know something we don't? Are Russians moving into the nabe as our Polish population is declining?  Who knows? The place is rather large for a Pharmacy, at least larger than most family Pharmacies.  They also have some hefty competition with a large Rite Aid located on 62 and 4th. Ave.. Well, we wish them luck and will be making a visit to the place when they open. They do have one thing in their favor worth crossing the Avenue for, they do copies on their copy machine for 5¢, now that's a good thing.



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