South Bronx High Schoolers Beautify New Community Fridge Shack In Mott Haven

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Published on November 12, 2020, 4:49 pm
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Young Urban Christians & Artists, Inc. (YUCA) art students will paint a mural on the winterization shack and pantry for the Mott Haven Community Refrigerator on Saturday, November 14, 2020, at 11:00 a.m., at the intersection of 141st Street and St. Ann’s Avenue in the Bronx. A rain date is scheduled for Saturday, November 21, 2020.   

Created by two local sixth grade teachers, Daniel Zauderer & Charlotte Alvarez, in response to witnessing hunger among their students’ families, the Mott Haven Community Refrigerator is a freestanding outdoor refrigerator, providing all community members with 24/7, no-questions-asked access to fresh food and other essentials. 

The fridge underwent its first transformation from residential refrigerator to functional public art when it was painted by well-known Bronx artist Rocio Marie in October. This Saturday, the fridge will undergo another metamorphosis as YUCA art students work with YUCA Instructors, Aneudys Santana, Nancy Mendez, and Aaliyah Atances to paint a mural on the fridge’s new winterization shack and pantry.  

The painting day is the culmination of a free six-week online art class by local non-profit YUCA Arts whose goal is for students to engage with the creative process while exploring social justice issues impacting the Bronx. “Having the students work on a mural collaboration project with the Mott Haven Fridge makes sense. The quality of their work is representative of Bronx culture and the social justice issues Bronx youth are facing today,” says YUCA’s executive director William Acevedo.  

Co-creators Alvarez and Zauderer expressed excitement about hosting the South Bronx teens for Saturday’s event. “As teachers ourselves, we cannot think of a better way to paint the shack.  Students deserve this opportunity, and we are confident that their creative vision will help to transform the Mott Haven Fridge from a temporary flicker of hope into a longstanding fixture of public art in New York City’s forgotten borough,” they said.

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About Young Urban Christians & Artists, Inc. (YUCA)

YUCA Arts’ mission is to engage, educate and empower youth by exploring their innate artistic gifts through an innovative community-wide arts and design program.

A 501(c)(3) community-based organization in the Bronx, we conduct an extra-curricular program whose mission is to educate and empower youth in ways that lead to heightened school and community engagement, and higher aspirations for the future.

For more information, please visit their website here and follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

About Mott Haven Community Refrigerator

Mott Haven Community Refrigerator is the first community refrigerator in Mott Haven. “Take what you need, give what you can.”

To learn more, please visit them on Facebook and Instagram.

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Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.