Stunning Brooklyn Street Art: The Gray-Green Divide
See beautiful Brooklyn street art at the Brooklyn Museum at 200 Eastern Parkway.
By Marnie Kunz
If you’re looking for new Brooklyn street art to check out, take a trip (or a run!) over to the Brooklyn Museum to see the Gray-Green Divide. The new mural project by artist Mona Chalabi adorns the beautiful grounds of the Brooklyn Museum and offers insight into local green spaces and plant life.
After the mural project was unveiled, I ran over to see the beautiful artwork and was also able to learn more about my home borough and its distribution of green space.
Brooklyn Street Art at the Brooklyn Museum
You can check out the stunning new Brooklyn street art project painted onto the steps of the Brooklyn Museum and along the wall near the steps. The Brooklyn Museum is located at 200 Eastern Parkway, in Brooklyn, New York. The Gray-Green Divide is just a few blocks away from Grand Army Plaza, on the north side of Prospect Park, making it an accessible run or walk for many Brooklyn residents and visitors.
For the Gray-Green Divide installation, data journalist Mona referenced data from NYC Parks to showcase New York City’s 100 most common tree species. The trees line the museum’s majestic front steps in a green and pink cascading mural. Check my video of the new mural project on Runstreet Instagram.
On the wall next to the steps, Mona’s maps of Brooklyn show average temperatures and tree locations. For the installation, Mona also created a chart to show how tree density corresponds with wealth in different neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Overall, the project depicts the lack of trees and corresponding higher temperatures in the neighborhoods with the least amount of wealth. This thought-provoking installation is more than pretty plants as it probes into the nature of inequities in Brooklyn, a borough of great wealth and great poverty.
I ran by the Gray-Green Divide and it is a breathtaking and thought-provoking work. My run was on a warm, sunny day, and I noticed changes in shade and available trees between different neighborhoods as I ran, with the wealthy areas of Park Slope and Prospect Heights where the museum is located offering the most green sanctuary from the heat.
The installation invites interaction, with information posted on the wall and a QR code to find more information online.
Since this Brooklyn street art project is outside of the museum, the exhibit is free and accessible to everyone. This makes it a great way to end your Brooklyn run in nearby Prospect Park. Check out my top picks for the best places to run in Brooklyn for more on Prospect Park and other great local running routes.
If you’d like to see additional art at the beautiful Brooklyn Museum, tickets are $16 for adults, $10 for students and seniors and people with disabilities (an accompanying care partner is free), and free for kids and teens ages 19 and under. I highly recommend checking out the museum for interesting special exhibits with a strong focus on social issues. I went to see a special Frida Kahlo exhibit and loved it. Also, for a local Brooklyn favorite, check out the once-a-month free First Saturdays events at the museum, which features a variety of art, performance, music, film, and more on the first Saturday evening of each month.
Underhill Walls
To see more local murals in the neighborhood, Underhill Walls is a nearby Brooklyn street art project that you can walk or run to from the Brooklyn Museum. From the Brooklyn Museum, head down Eastern Parkway toward Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza. Before the park, you will hit Underhill Avenue, where you will want to turn right. Go a block and you will see the beginning of Underhill Walls, which wraps around the block to St. Johns Place.
Underhill Walls was established in 2015 by local creative Jeff Beler. The project has a strong community feel and has different themes that change periodically. Some local street artists who have painted at the walls include Sac Six, Majo San, Paolo Tolentino, Frank Ape, and many more.
Street Art in Brooklyn: A Rich History
Brooklyn is the most colorful borough in NYC, with a rich history of murals and art. To see more incredible Brooklyn street art, I recommend heading to Williamsburg and Bushwick to see the Bushwick Collective.
In Williamsburg, where I hung my hat for a few years, there are several murals in North Williamsburg along Bedford Avenue and at the scenic Domino Park along the Brooklyn waterfront. If you want to make an active day of it, you can also hop on the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway in Williamsburg and run, walk or bike along the paved path along the picturesque Brooklyn waterfront. If you head south from Williamsburg, you will hit the Navy Yard and then Dumbo, another beautiful place for NYC views and outdoor activity.
To see the mother of all Brooklyn street art, take the L train to the Jefferson Street stop in Bushwick. The Bushwick Collective is the largest collection of murals in NYC, featuring incredible work by artists from around the world as well as some of the best New York City street artists. The Bushwick Collective has a block party every June, and the artists come to put up new masterpieces, so there is always relatively new art to see. In addition, you can still find some great Brooklyn street art left behind from past years’ events. The result is blocks on blocks of ground to sky murals.
The Bushwick Collective was created in 2011 by Bushwick native Joe Ficalora, and it has grown to become New York City’s biggest mural collection, bringing tourists and locals out year-round to the formerly industrial Brooklyn neighborhood. The collective is a must-see for any street art fan in NYC. Whether you are visiting or a local, I highly recommend checking out the Bushwick Collective.
And if you still need a street art fix, check out the nearby JMZ Walls serving up lots of local Brooklyn street art. The JMZ Walls runs along the J, M, and Z train line in Bushwick.
What is your favorite Brooklyn street art? Comment below with your faves.
Related Posts: Where to Run in Brooklyn: A Guide, 5 Best Places to Run in NYC, Where to Find the Best NYC Street Art, Dumbo Running Tips
Marnie Kunz is a NASM-certified Brooklyn trainer, USATF, and RRCA-certified running coach, and the creator of Body by Runstreet training and Runstreet Art Runs, which bring together communities through running and street art. She is a Brooklyn resident, trainer, Akita mom, and writer. She enjoys running coaching, traveling, art, and eating messily. You can follow her running and events at @Runstreet Instagram and Runstreet Facebook and follow her on Twitter for more on her running adventures.
