JERSEY CITY, NJ (JANUARY 13, 2025) - Mural artist El Cekis was recently featured on NJ PBS in their Painting Community series. “Painting Community – Jersey City” delves into the artist’s background growing up in Santiago, Chile, the inspirations for his work, and highlights his recently completed murals at two Jersey City Schoolyards.  

In collaboration with the Jersey City Office of Cultural Affairs’ Mural Arts Program, New City Parks helped support and facilitate the creation of these two murals at PS12 and PS34 as part of their schoolyard transformations. NCP is collaborating with the city, school administrations, and local partners to transform a number of Jersey City schoolyards into vibrant green spaces for play and learning. The program builds off the successful transformation of the PS30 green schoolyard (opened in 2023) which featured two murals. 

“The cities are so saturated with information, with advertising, with people, cars, everything. So art is a way of making the area or space more livable. So many dead areas that [are] begging for art”-El Cekis, Muralist  

“Public art helps define a sense of place through scale, color, and theme. By making art accessible and reflective of the community, these spaces express identity, pride, and belonging at a large-scale. Research even shows that public art helps community members feel safer in their local neighborhoods.” -Chanda Bennett, Director of Programs & Partnerships, New City Parks 

The mural at PS34 is a prime example of how identity, place, and community can come together to create powerful art and anchor city landmarks. El Cekis discusses how he came up with the concept for the mural: “They asked me to create something about identity. I wanted to mix my own style with this concept, so I came up with the idea of a school as a garden for the community. My idea was to compare the importance of education with the pollination process. Both are important to survive. I made an image where pollinators [are] doing their job and I’m comparing it to what the teachers are doing for their community.” 

“Talking to the kids themselves, they have an immediate reaction to having a mural on their building. They know that it’s a source of pride and they have a joyful reaction to seeing this piece of art on their school” - Christine Goodman, Director, Jersey City Office of Cultural Affairs 

You can watch the full NJPBS episode for free online to learn more about the creation of these murals, El Cekis’s work, and the importance of public art.  

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