Getting There, LES

Getting There is a mural by Morgan Everhart near the intersection of Grand and Suffolk Streets in New York City’s Lower East Side that commemorates our persistence through the isolation brought on by the pandemic and supports two local non-profit organizations central to the community: The Lower Eastside Girls Club and The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center

The sooner we have the funds for these essential epicenters of inspiration, creativity, education, and wellbeing, the sooner their programming can happen! With your donation, thousands of community residents will receive access to free education, free healthcare & wellbeing, and free arts programming.

About the Artist & Mural

artist Background, concept, production timeline, & LOCATION

Morgan Everhart is a Dallas born, Brooklyn based artist who works primarily in painting, installation, performance, and writing. Everhart’s practice challenges naturalism and ontology through reflection on personal experiences, identity, religion, and art history.

Everhart currently has a solo exhibition at the David Owsley Museum of Art in Indiana titled, "Flesh & Bloom ", curated by Dr. Yassana Croizat-Glazer of YCG Fine Art . Recent exhibitions include: Flowers for my Failures at the Longwood Museum, Virginia; BLOOM at Millersville University, Pennsylvania; and, Four Degrees of Abstraction at Markel Fine Arts, New York.

Morgan Everhart is creating this mural and fundraiser, pro bono, to benefit the LES community. 

In “Getting there”, the first layers depict a landscape through the frame of driving. The landscape, which is seen through the dashboard of a car, transitions from night into day. Mirroring that transition there is an abstracted floral configuration that moves from a darker, semi fluorescent color scheme into a lighter, pastel arrangement. Over the floral arrangements, a body scaled silver, reflective structure vertically divides the night side of the mural, while an eye level lime green structure divides the day’s horizon line on the right. Running along the top of the entire mural is a subtle orange and pink gradient, similar to the colors you’ll see at dawn and dusk. 

Each significant reference in the mural is painted at different scales, so that people may recognize them from different distances. For example, the transition from night into day may be the first thing someone notices from one or two blocks away. Alternatively, someone who is only a few feet away from the mural may focus on the interactions of color in the floral arrangements. Someone who is parking their car on the street may notice the relationship of the silver and lime green structures to the scale of the people walking by the mural.

Non-Profit Partners

Lower East Side Nonprofits participating in experiences with the mural.

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center Inc. is a Puerto Rican/Latinx multi-arts cultural institution rooted in NYC’s Lower East Side/Loisaida. The Clemente operates polyphonically to provide affordable space and venues to artists, small arts organizations, emergent and independent community producers that reflect the cultural diversity of the LES and our City. The Clemente seeks donations to raise critical funds to keep bi-lingual arts in education free and at no cost for over 75k children and young adults served each year.

Donations from this mural project will specifically fund The Clemente’s Puppet Fringe NYC , the first ever international & bilingual fringe festival dedicated to puppetry. Over 24,000 guests and 10 international companies representing 16 countries participate in this event.

The Lower East Side Girls Club

The Lower Eastside Girls Club provides free, year-around, innovative youth programming. In December 2021, they will open the Center for Wellbeing and Happiness for intergenerational and holistic wellness programming for all community members, at no cost. The Center for Wellbeing and Happiness (CWBH) strategically addresses the wellbeing and health disparities in the Lower East Side by utilizing intentional, trauma-informed, holistic programming rooted in community-centered resilience, prevention, recovery and self-reliance. The CWBH will serve as a wellness hub providing the space and opportunity for local organizations, expert practitioners, health-based city agencies and institutions, and their talented and resourced filled community members, to connect, collaborate and serve.

Donations from this mural project will underwrite workshops for community members at the Center for Wellbeing & Happiness (CWBH).

Curatorial & Creative Partnerships

Artists, & Curators creating exhibitions and content with the mural.

For more information, please contact morgan@morganeverhart.com