Urban Eyes Project:
3001 St Claude St. @ Clouet, New Orleans
Concept, Facilitation and Design: Laurel True
Creation: Community members, artists and volunteers from New Orleans and beyond.
Description:
First in a series of murals including almost 600 mosaic eyes from artists from 33 countries and New Orleans. On site community participation.
The Urban Eyes Project explores awareness, vision, protection and the interaction between community well-being and creative expression, urging us to See Differently and examine things from various perspectives.
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The Urban Eyes Project is an international, community-based street art project that explores non-violence, global and community awareness and differing perspectives through the creation of socially engaged public art.
Conceptualized and spearheaded by artist Laurel True, the Urban Eyes Project is a multi-phase project consisting of several mosaic murals made using almost 600 mosaic eyes contributed by hundreds of artists from 33 countries around the world, as well as many made by community members in New Orleans.
The Urban Eyes Project murals depict repeating symbols of peace, protection and pride and include multi-colored mosaic eyes made by global participants, black and white eyes created by artists in Haiti trained by True, stencils, paint and lots of donated, recycled mirror.
Almost 100 community members in New Orleans have participated in the installation of the Phase One mural, entitled See with the Other Eye, after a Rumi poem.
A pop-up photo booth during project construction enabled community members to have their own eyes photographed, which were transferred into photo tiles to be included in the large, mandala-like forms.
The mural is located on the facade of the Korner Market building, in the 9th ward in New Orleans on St. Claude Ave (at Clouet St.), a commercial thoroughfare that borders several diverse communities. Korner Market, and the corner where it’s situated, has served as a gathering place for community members for over 20 years.
<o> The Urban Eyes Project is a project of The Global Mosaic Project and True Mosaics Studio.
