“Runoff Art” Flows Thru West River Corner

A half-dozen high school student artists brightened up a West River corner with painted sunflowers and swirling waves of water as part of an eco-friendly summer work project.

The teens were out painting Thursday afternoon at the northeast corner of Chapel Street and Norton Street, on an expansive stretch of sidewalk in front of the boarded up former Sidney’s Expert Cleaners.

Under the supervision of local public artist JoAnn Moran, the students painted crystalline blue swirls of water around the corner’s storm drains; warm, towering sunflowers on the plywood covering the vacant storefront; and on a fish-filled banner reading, ​“Only Rain In The Drain.”

The afternoon painting was part of a stormwater education project called ​“Runoff Art” spearheaded by Moran’s organization, Lots of Fish. The teenage artists participating in the project are all employed through the city’s Youth@Work program.

“It’s about building public awareness and education around keeping streets free of litter,” Moran said. The storm drain sidewalk paintings in particular are meant to draw people’s attention to that critical, and oft-overlooked, public infrastructure that drains storm water—and sometimes pollution — out into the city’s rivers.

Moran (pictured) said that the teens have been working all week at that corner, cleaning storm drains of litter and painting on the sidewalk, the banner, and the Sidney’s storefront. Next week, they’ll move on to the Learning Corridor in Newhallville for another round of painting and stormwater education.

Moran said that three of the students participating Thursday were employed by Lots of Fish for the summer, and three were employed by the Evergreen Family Oriented Tree, Inc., and all were being paid through Youth@Work.

She said that the ​“Only Rain In The Drain” banner will ultimately be hung up above traffic across a city street. She said she’s leaving where exactly it will be hung to the city.

And the blue swirl design painted around the storm drains was the brainchild of John S. Martinez School fifth-grader Nick Ruiz

Assata Johnson (pictured), a 15-year-old rising junior at Career High School, said that painting sunflowers on the plywood storefront lifted up her mood, and represented to her a symbol of happiness.

“Everything going around right now with corona, it’s a sad time,” she said. ​“Looking at this, it just makes me remember that there are going to be good days, that there’s going to be better days coming, if we just keep working together.”

Trinity Ford (pictured), a 15-year-old rising sophomore at Co-Op High School, said she enjoyed spending time out in the sun, painting with friends and learning about stormwater infrastructure. ​“It’s bringing the community together,” she said.

“Everyone thinks this is a bad neighborhood,” added 17-year-old West Haven High School student Danielys Lopez. ​“This shows that it’s not that bad.”

Hill resident and local artist Andre Davis (pictured) joined in on the painting after walking by the corner and asking Moran about the project. He said he’s been painting since he was little, first through drawing at school, then painting his family’s house, then moving on to making art on clothing for fashion shows his mother used to host.

“To expose something as beautiful as clean water right now, with the pandemic and things that are going on, it’s very important,” he said. ​“I think this is a great time to display something that is unifying to let people know to stay conscious of what’s going on. We’re out here to help give you a visual to help you stay conscious.”