Outreach Spotlight: Community Heroes

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Outreach Spotlight:
Community Heroes NYC

 

The goal of Community Heroes is to celebrate the everyday heroes of New York City —  neighborhood by neighborhood. Heroes are residents who have taken it upon themselves to organize for good in the neighborhood. The Community Heroes project pairs local photographers to take portraits of inspiring individuals across the city. These portraits will be displayed in the neighborhood, and will be accompanied by writing about the subject’s heroism.


The project aims to:

  • Highlight the great stories that are already taking place in each neighborhood

  • Inspire and encourage viewers to take ownership of their community

  • Give witness the diverse leaders of each neighborhood to unify them together as heroes

By publicly sharing the stories of people who have advocated for the neighborhood for decades, Community Heroes hope to spark ideas of how new residents can become ‘owners’ and not just ‘renters’ of the neighborhood. By showcasing a diverse roster of heroes, they hope to cross-pollinate and strengthen the good work each is doing.The project provides the audience a variety of entry points to engage in the good work happening in the neighborhood.

Community Heroes Updates:

Community Heroes is a community organizing and public art project. Celebrate a new group of Fort Greene Community Heroes! Meet the heroes, artists, youth writers and collaborators who created this exhibition.

An exhibit in Fort Greene (Fort Greene Park) was on display throughout August 2020 along the Brooklyn Hospital Fence.

In October 2020, Community Heroes organized in Bed Stuy with Friends of St. Andrews Playground and Her-King Alagantic Block Association.

In the Bronx-Aqueduct, a community photo scanning event and flower bulb planting took place in November 2020 with more scanning events scheduled over the following two months to collect community photos. A local archivist collected more images from the community and writing captions. A community and public art unveiling was planned for May 2021.

A Community Heroes Meet & Greet at Commodore Barry Park in August 2021.

A Community Heroes Resource Guide that serves as a roadmap for other communities to celebrate their own Community Heroes. The 2021 Spring Educators Lab focuses on the project.