Working with paintbrush in hand, award-winning Manhattan-based artist Miguel Diego Colón recently brought his skills and vision to First Street Green Art Park. After he had finished his mural, I posed a few questions to him:
Although your artwork surfaced publicly this past year on a huge billboard near the Kings Plaza Shopping Center, this was the first time you actually painted in public. What was that experience like?
It was amazing! I loved interacting with passersby who stopped to watch me. I loved hearing people’s interpretations of what I was doing. And I felt flattered when people took photos of the mural and of me while I was painting.
All of your images reference some kind of economic or social injustice. How did you decide which images to incorporate into your mural?
I researched online the term “social justice.” I then visually interpreted particular issues that stood out…that particularly mattered to me.
And so the overall theme of your mural is social justice — or the lack of it.
Yes. I am concerned with oppression of all kinds…what it means to have one’s rights taken away.
Is there any particular segment of the mural that you especially like?
One of my favorite segments is the image of the couple embracing during the collapse of a sweatshop. I like the way it represents connection — the way people can connect, especially during trying times.
What’s ahead?
I’m currently applying for a number of grants. And I would love, of course, more opportunities to paint in public spaces. I’m also working in my Fountain House Gallery studio on a painting modeled on my First Street Green Art Park mural, “Liberty’s Last Embrace.”
It sounds great! Good luck with it all! And, thank you, Jonathan Neville and First Street Green Art Park.
Interview conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky. Photos by Lois Stavsky
