St. Nicholas Houses
Nudge Art Mural

Located at St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem, New York City

Located at St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem, New York City

Created by:
Harlem-based Artists Kristy McCarthy & Marivel Mejia & St. Nicholas Houses Youth

For this Nudge Art mural, our St. Nicholas Houses youth honed in on the concepts of equality, representation, justice, and global cooperation. This mural isn’t just a community-driven work of art that depicts equality and inclusion in the St. Nicholas community; it is also a placemaking project in the St. Nicholas Plaza area. This shipping container was formerly an eyesore; today, the shipping container features a community-driven, co-created work of art that faces the St. Nicholas playground and plaza area.

Through a series of collaborative design sessions and discussions, the St. Nicholas Houses youth decided that they wanted to visually depict equality on a global level. The anchor of the mural is a scale, held in balance on each side by androgynous individuals who are committed to equality. The scale rests on a triangle / delta, which symbolizes change. The scale is painted in a gradient style to symbolize the gender spectrum.

The second focal element of the mural is the globe held up by a group of diverse individuals that represent the varied backgrounds of our global humanity. In this work of art, the individuals are working together to uphold equality, globally, through collaboration and cooperation. The background of the mural is painted in calm colors. The world has adaptations of gender symbols around it to further reinforce the idea of gender equality.

~1 Minute Mural Creation Video + Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Resources

Interested in learning more about what you can do to advance gender equality daily?

Check out the 10 genEquality Activations to learn about how you can advocate for and make change through your daily beliefs and behaviors. We share 10 core beliefs and behaviors that you can practice; they touch on social cues and cultural norms, daily communications (language and humor), and economic equality behaviors, choices, and values.

If you want to learn how to be a better bystander, check out these free resources from our friends at Righttobe!:

If you are experiencing, or have experienced, domestic and gender-based violence - help is always available to you.

  • You can access information and resources to help anyone experiencing dating, domestic, gender-based, or family violence, including elder abuse, by visiting www.nyc.gov/NYCHOPE, or by calling the NYC 24/7 confidential Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-621-HOPE (1-800-621-4673) or TTY 1-866-604-5350.  

  • The Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence (ENDGBV) Training Team provides engaging, interactive training and technical assistance to support service providers in effectively identifying and responding to clients experiencing domestic and gender-based violence. ENDGBV tailors its trainings to meet organizational/agency staff needs. Read more about the Training Team.

  • The Healthy Relationship Training Academy provides violence prevention workshops for young people ages 13-24 and staff who work with young people. Please read these FAQs and then request the appropriate Academy workshop(s).

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  • The Commission on Human Rights offers a youth leadership development program to identify human rights issues in their communities, develop solutions, and build their leadership skills.