Murals by Tanya Torres - Schools in NYC

These are the murals and mosaics I created between 2006 and 2010 at the East Harlem Bilingual Head Start (116 street and Pleasant Avenue) and P.S. 57 (115 street between Lexington Avenue and 3rd Avenue) This video was made by Elisa Perea. The music is by Anonymous 4, some of the music I listened to while placing thousands of little mosaic pieces to create these images.

Sunrise

Sunrise, Mosaic Tile Mural by Tanya Torres, 2010
at the East Harlem Bilingual Head Start, Site 1

With Rita Prats, the director of the East Harlem Bilingual Head Start.

I completed this mural back in 2010, but had never taken photos of it. Last week I was able to finally get a couple of them when I went to see Rita Prats about the recent addition to their walls, the Guess the Recipe project.

New Poetry Mural

This mural is for my friend Rosa Velazquez, the first person I ever met who was interested in angel art, so I thought an angel was appropriate! The same image, tile size, was originally a study for the larger mural so I could let her see the colors and ideas. It goes together with other pieces for other walls.

The poem was written especially for Rosa, and inspired by her love of life and spirituality. I look forward to seeing the mural installed very soon, and hope she likes it!

Poetry Murals

It feels so good to have finally completed all my poetry murals! Here they are, including 4 additional "last minute" murals that Mr. Soto, the school principal, asked me to create 2 months before the biggest day at the school: Mano a Mano, when all the school's creations are presented in a big performance and as exhibitions throughout the building.

The murals are all painted and written on approximately 60 4" x 4" tiles. The project began last year, when the school children asked Mr. Soto to fix the bathrooms. He moved Heaven and Earth to achieve the much needed—and very expensive—renovation of 6 school bathrooms, and thought to integrate poetry and art as a reminder that creativity and dreams are all around us!

Personally, I feel this project integrates a lot of who I am by bringing together word and image. Of course, they are also meant to reflect the principal's vision for the school and the idea for the picassoesque figures came from the children's own work with the schools' art teacher, Ms. Turtle. The poetry is all mine. Here they are!

Girls, First Floor

Boys, First Floor

Girls, Second Floor


Boys, Second Floor


Girls, Third Floor






Boys, Third Floor

A poem for girls, A poem about freedom

I created this poem for the P.S. 57 bathroom murals, and now finally got to give it a new shape as a digitally illustrated image. It is a poem that I hope speaks to girls with thoughts about freedom, a word and an idea that has been essential to me as a person and as an artist.

I believe freedom is about being able to visualize yourself as the best possible version of who you can be, and acting upon that vision. And it is also about embracing your dreams, and refusing to let them go once grown-up life begins. I wish I had been invited to seriously think about freedom as a young girl, and this is why I dedicated this poem to the girls!

I am currently working on transforming the boy's poem into one of these poetry prints. And this one is now available in my etsy shop in both Spanish and English! ($12, Free shipping!)

Bathroom Murals: My Poetry Murals at P.S. 57, NYC

Mosaics at East Harlem Bilingual Head Start

*The darker parts on the grout mean that it was still drying when I took the photos!