The southwest face of the tallest tower at Morrisania Air Rights, a NYCHA development in the South Bronx, now carries portraits of the people who live there. The mural, Un MAR de Gente / From Every Shore, was unveiled on October 27, and NYCHA and its partners describe it as the tallest mural in the United States. It rises more than 307 feet up the side of the development's 29-story building.

Who painted it

The lead artist is Nestor Omar Garcia, who works as Angurria, a Dominican muralist known for work centered on Dominican identity. He painted it with his studio, Monumental.do, in partnership with Fernando Ortiz, a Dominican-American artist born in the Bronx who founded FOGA. Ortiz previously led community engagement for the WE ARE THE BRONX murals in the Third Avenue BID.

Angurria grew up in Los Alcarrizos in the Dominican Republic painting the people of his own neighborhood, and he has said he recognized the same families and the same pride in the South Bronx.

How the design was made

The faces on the wall were not chosen from a sketchbook. Over several months, the artists and ArtBridge, the public art nonprofit that commissioned the work, held a series of workshops with residents, local young people and the MAR Resident Association to collect the stories and perspectives that would shape the design. Angurria then turned what residents shared into the final composition, which shows MAR community members across generations.

The resident association's president, Tanya Pedler, said residents helped shape the mural's vision, and that she hopes children in the development see themselves in it.

Who paid for it

ArtBridge commissioned the mural with support from the M·A·C VIVA GLAM Fund, and worked on it with the Public Housing Community Fund, the nonprofit that partners with NYCHA, and the MAR Resident Association. NYCHA's chief executive, Lisa Bova-Hiatt, said the mural is visible from across the South Bronx.

About Morrisania Air Rights

MAR was completed in 1980. Its three towers were built using air rights over the Metro-North rail tracks, and the development is home to about 1,950 residents. The name gives the mural its double meaning: MAR is both the development's initials and the Spanish word for sea, which is where the English title, From Every Shore, comes in.

Seeing it

The mural is on the outside of a residential building, so the way to see it is from the street and from a distance. The southwest-facing wall is the side to look for. Metro-North Harlem Line trains pass right by, which gives commuters a view from the tracks the towers were built over.

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