ReUse Murals

Murals at ReUse

In the spirit of helping heal our community and our world, Finger Lakes ReUse and Ithaca Murals is collaborating to bring imagery to the walls of Ithaca ReUse that connect the act of reuse to the
United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals.

No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health & Well-being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water & Sanitation, Affordable & Clean Energy, Decent Work & Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure, Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption & Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Peace, Justice, & Strong Institutions, Partnerships for the Goals

Thanks to Bradford Leiby, Terrance Vann, Annemarie Zwack, Audra Linsner, and Nick Gilbert for bringing these walls to life with the colorful values of the people who work at ReUse.

About Each Artist & Project...

Bradford Leiby

CONCEPT
My design depicts a nest of sparrows that has been built on top of a bottle tipped on its side. Inside the bottle, a skyline of Ithaca and some details of the town are shown. The bottle is a symbol of reuse and recycling. It is also why I call the design “Message In a Bottle”. The city inside the bottle is self sustaining like a terrarium. The “Ithaca in a bottle” is a suitable place for the birds to make a home, representing harmony with nature. The birds also represent sustainability, community, and partnership. Sparrows are birds that make their nests out of bits of found objects and are regularly seen hopping around and living around humans.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:
Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Partnership for the Goals

About Bradford Leiby:

I am an artist from Corning NY. I have always enjoyed the public art in Ithaca and am excited to be a part of it. Over the past 10 years I have painted murals in Corning and Elmira and worked with different organizations, artists, and students on large scale projects. Working on paintings in my studio is how I spend most of my time, but bringing meaningful art to a public space is what I am most passionate about.

Website: bradleiby.com

Instagram: instagram.com/brad.fjord

Facebook: facebook.com/leibyart

Terrance Vann

Creating a more vibrant future through artful leadership makes my passion comes alive!

About Terrance Vann:
Terrance Vann is an award-winning multidisciplinary painter, illustrator and muralist from Wilmington, DE, now based in Ithaca, NY. Terrance’s afro-surrealist artwork is vividly aims to portray the surreal world of our imaginations. His colorful works are very expressive and are created as focal points for developing creative solutions to the complexities faced by communities across the globe.

Instagram: @terranceism

Website: terranceism.bigcartel.com

Facebook: Terrance Vann

Annemarie Zwack

"Metatronic Upgrade"
by Annemarie Zwack

What kind of machine
would you design
to heal our
planet?

ABOUT ANNEMARIE ZWACK:

Annemarie Zwack is a visual artist, specializing in engaging others in creative processes to help them realize their goals. Check out her TED talk to see how community built public art can effect social change! Contact her for commissions. This could be in your home, making a new hearth, backsplash, entry mosaic, or in your community, school, or park.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:
Zero Waste

REUSE CENTER MURAL CONCEPT:

I love sacred geometry and would share this link with anyone interested in a lil background on my inspiration for this mural. I was also inspired by the feedback to the questions I asked the Re-Use community; specifically with the image of the sunflower (an example of sacred geometry), the tire meets grater over crockpot contraption, and the idea of a machine that is a people moving vehicle, like in Priscilla Queen of the Dessert~ became the Merkabah transmuting the pyramid of “STUFF” into a Spectrum of Light.

Website: zwackart.com

Facebook: ZwackArt

Instagram: @zwackart

Twitter: zwackart

Audra Linsner

Audra Linsner is a muralist and graphic designer from Clifton Springs, NY. She has a penchant for all things typography and draws a good deal of inspiration from vintage designs. In her spare time, she loves eating ice cream, blasting 80s tunes, and taking a million pictures of her 4 month old nephew.

ReUse Mural Concept

This mural for ReUse felt like such a unique and amazing opportunity. I wanted to create something that embodied the organization while also emphasizing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. As everyone has experienced, the past year has been incredibly difficult and draining for so many reasons. With the recent murder of Duante Wright (and many more Black and other marginalized folks at the hands of white supremacy), it felt a bit out of place to imagine this sort of idyllic world of the 17 goals. But it forced me to realize that there are people out there, all over the globe (like the wonderful people at ReUse!) who work day in and day out to implement change. In a way, this is a small testament to those change makers and a reminder to us all that we have to put in the work to make a better society a reality.

Thank you to employees of ReUse (Diane, Robin, Robyn, Lonnie, etc), Caleb of Ithaca Murals, and painting assistants (Annika, Hayley, Ryley, Austin, Sareanda, Kristin, and Uncle Freddy) who helped make this happen! In a time of isolation, it is so uplifting to come together and create.

Nick Gilbert

COMING SOON!

A mosaic incorporating a huge creative variety of tiny objects found at ReUse and elsewhere.
A tessellating design in tile, stone, metal, wood, living plants, tools, & more!

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES!

Website: poetryofstone.com

Instagram: @poetryofstone

Facebook: Nick Gilbert

These projects are a result of a collaboration between Finger Lakes ReUse and Ithaca Murals, supported by an Environmental Justice Community Impact Grant, provided by the Environmental Protection Fund, as administered by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.