REFUGEES
2016
CAMILLE PERROTTET, MARIA DOMINGUEZ
Welling Court (30th Avenue & 12 Street), Astoria, Queens, NY
8’ x 12’, acrylic on brick
Ad Hoc Art/Welling Court Mural Project
Photos © Camille Perrottet
Refugees is the first mural that Artmakers’ artistic director Camille Perrottet spearheaded for the Welling Court Mural Project. Her image was inspired by Don Bartletti’s photograph showing Central American migrants who, under a blazing sun, lug gallon jugs of water as they trudge along rough and dangerous footpaths just north of the Mexico/Arizona border. Having survived the trek across Mexico, many perished on their arduous journey through the desert. Above Camille’s figures, Maria’s haunted eyes reflect the concern and despair of worried relatives, not knowing the fate of their loved ones.
Established in May 2010 and coordinated by Ad Hoc Art, under the director of Garrison Buxton, the Welling Court Mural Project was conceived to help local residents, led by Jonathan Ellis, spruce up their neighborhood. Each year, approximately 150 street artists from NYC and around the world return to create a new mural on their assigned wall, their work filling the residential streets that radiate from Welling Court and 30th Avenue.