Groundswell Mural at Fort Hamilton High School

City Council Member Vinnie Gentile and Groundswell, a collaborative group of artists, youth and community organizations, have partnered in commissioning a mural at Fort Hamilton High School to honor the soldiers of the U.S. Army Garrison at Fort Hamilton.

Groundswell projects are designed to beautify neighborhoods, engage youth in transformative activities, and express underrepresented points of view. 

Work on the mural, on the wall facing into the Fort Hamilton Athletic Fields, will begin at 1 PM on Sunday, November 3, after the marathon.

The community is invited to help paint the mural, to be dedicated to our nation’s veterans and the historic relationship between the Fort Hamilton Army base and the Bay Ridge community.

The idea for the Groundswell project came out of the 2011 withdrawal of most American troops from Iraq. When the troops came home, there were no ticker-tape parades to welcome them.  It was too soon, the Pentagon said, with American troops still in Afghanistan, to celebrate, but the Iraq veterans should be honored in other ways.

In designing the project, Groundswell muralist Esteban del Valle collaborated with veterans from Fort Hamilton Army Base and with local veteran's organizations, including American Legion-Amity Post 791, Vietnam Veterans Chapter 72, and the United Military Veterans of Kings County.

Video of the new mural [Brooklyn News 12.]