Cool Cat Productions, a muralist from Hell's Kitchen, has been brightening up the neighborhood's walls since 1994. He's one of many artists who have flooded the neighborhood with color in recent years, and he's working hard to keep it going.
“I want to do a remix of the first piece I did 30 years ago, in 1994,” Kool Cat said. It will represent what he calls the quintessential Hell's Kitchen. “Something nice and funky, demonic, something to do with drugs, with a little rainbow in there, you know?” The original mural stood on W 52nd St.
Currently, City Council Member Eric Bottcher is actively seeking property owners in District 3 (which includes all of Hell's Kitchen south of West 54th Street) who are interested in painting murals on the walls of their buildings and other vacant spaces.
“We believe that public art, especially murals, can contribute greatly to the revitalization of neighborhoods,” the councilman told W42ST in an interview. “Murals can become beloved community landmarks for generations to come.”
Cool Cat has been fascinated with graffiti art since he was in elementary school. He paints murals with “spray paint, no cut-outs,” and says his ideal wall would be “big and visible.”
Cool Cat explained that when she first started out, her “passion was for lettering, style, color, bubbles. It was all exciting to me, but getting my name out there was another story.”
Cool Cat's most recent neighborhood piece was the Hell's Kitchen logo painted in the center of a new basketball court at the Harborview Terrace playground, sponsored by billionaire Bill Ackman. The new mural at the public housing complex covered up an earlier piece of iconic Hell's Kitchen graffiti that Cool Cat had painted in the same location.
Hell's Kitchen has a rich history of murals, including Anton Refragier's 1970 mosaic mural depicting black and Puerto Rican union members at the former offices of labor union 1199 SEIU, which has since been removed from the neighborhood, and Arnold Belkin's 1972 mural titled “No to Internal Colonialism,” which is currently covered by scaffolding at Matthews Palmer Playground but may be lost due to construction.
Mayor Bottcher said local property owners and artists can contact his office directly if they are interested in this new initiative, and his staff is actively reaching out to property owners.
This new “Call on the Wall” is wide open, with the only major criterion being that it be located above the first floor of a building, where it can't be easily vandalized, as happened when Captain Eyeliner tagged it with an image of Dolly Parton and Betty White, the “patron saints” of West 47th Street and 9th Avenue.
Since then, Hecktad, a Hell's Kitchen-raised street artist, has brought a “heartfelt” revival to the same corner. May love be with you His murals, along with works by artists Buggieles and Queen Andrea, also adorn the fence around the lot at 11th Avenue and West 41st Street that real estate developer Silverstein wants to turn into a casino.
Last fall, artist Carlos Alberto painted a climate change mural on a wall at the Javits Center, depicting endangered and recently resurrected animal species.
“If we are successful in installing these murals, property owners will understand that it is a painless process and one that will increase property values and the overall value of the neighborhood,” Bottcher said.
Bottcher said he's in contact with two nonprofits that will help create and install the murals: Urbain 2030, which is dedicated to spreading awareness about the United Nations' 2030 sustainability goals through public art, and another that is partnering with the Spanish consulate to create a mural honoring the work of Spanish painter Pablo Picasso.
Bottcher said the mayor's office has been in contact with local muralists and other artists, and a New York City-based 501(c)3 nonprofit could potentially use City Council funding to help bring the mural to fruition.
Bottcher has been calling for more murals on the west side for more than two years, and previously helped paint a bridge over a nearby railroad cutting.
Property owners who would like to have a mural painted on their property or local artists who would like to paint a mural are asked to contact Councilman Bottcher’s office at district3@council.nyc.gov.
