ITHACA MURALS
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ReAwakening the Underground Railroad Mural!

Near the Ithaca Commons on Green St. under Aurora St.
Community Context
Murals throughout Ithaca provide a curriculum, welcoming educational experience and acknowledgement in the glorious history of where we are.  There’s so much significance to this Underground Railroad mural in Ithaca NY.  It helps to remind us that we are living in a space of greatness.  

There’s so much to learn and teach as it relates to Black history, our Black present and our future.  Our ancestors have left blueprints - messages… and the question is what are we doing with them today?  When we have murals and other arts that help teach these stories, then we can learn about them, reflect on them, and think about who we are and who we want to be.​
Most importantly, this project gives us an opportunity to reflect on the much needed Underground Railroad of today.  There are so many truths and untruths that need to be revealed in education, housing, medical system, and more.  Studying the work of our ancestors, our abolitionist teachers, and the methodologies that they’ve mapped out, will give us access to truths that we are yearning for - or not yearning for - until we learn about the work of Harriet Tubman.  Harriet Tubman left us a blueprint that she mapped out for us, she said that she would have freed so many more enslaved Africans if only they knew they were enslaved.  There are ways in which we still have some waking up to do around our identity and our own love for Blackness.

Black consciousness work provides an opportunity for each of us to reflect on our relationship to Blackness.  The more that we teach, learn, and have exposure to an authentic education of Black History, the greater opportunity we have to bring to life the messages our abolitionist ancestors left for us.  

Please join us in supporting the work of incredible local Black artists as we work together to “ReAwaken" this mural to a whole new level.  These incredible artists can provide the link and explicit connection between the history and the present, and it’s time… It’s time to offer that in our community.  We’re growing and we’re transforming, but we still have so much work to do.
Project History and Future
In 2010, the former City of Ithaca Public Art Commission facilitated a mural project on Green St. (under the Aurora St. Bridge) by artist Jonathan Matas called “Escaping on the Master's Horse." Fifteen years later, the mural has weathered, cracked, and been vandalized. With the blessing of Black Elders, Southside Community Center and Ithaca Murals are working with a team of local Black artists to "ReAwaken" the Underground Railroad mural. The artists will be painting a mural this summer inspired by similar themes in the current mural.

This mural is specifically about Black liberation - with prominent figures that impacted Ithaca’s past (Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass), but also invoking relevant issues in our community today. While this beautiful mural will be truly inspiring for everyone, we honor Ithaca’s Black residents as the primary audience. We see a near future where young Black passersby stop in front of the freshly ReAwakened wall reflecting love, joy, and justice deserved.
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Sketch (draft) of the new mural for 2025
Expanding the Mural to Include the Side Walls
The walls to the left and right will depict quilt patterns inspired by freedom quilts used along the Underground Railroad many years ago.  The side walls in the sketch below is black and white, but in actuality it will be detailed with colorful imagery within the shapes.  The patterns will show the path conductors have taught us - patterns of hope and inspiration to move forward - communicating our longevity and commitment. The product will provide a blueprint of knowledge connecting our past, present, and future… and asking us “what is our Underground Railroad today?” When Black folks arrive and pass through town, our cityscape will communicate “your history, present, and future in Ithaca, New York is valued, loved, heard, seen, lifted up, and honored.” 
Help fund this amazing project!
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Add your name to this list of donors!
This Southside Community Center & Ithaca Murals collaboration is made possible thanks to...
Ricky Dawson Memorial fund, Downtown Ithaca Alliance, Sue Brower, Nancy Potter, Rotary Club of Ithaca, Michelle Harty, Rachel Feirman, Community Arts Partnership, Kate & John Finn, Buffalo Street Books, Sarah McNaull, Deborah Jones, Melissa Allen, Charmaine Brathwaite, Carolyn Paul-Alexander, Juliana Quaresma, Betty DeCaires, Illume Projects, David Kraskow, Nicholas Mino, Kyara Moran, Nora Burrows, Mariellen Brown, Kellie Swensen, Elizabeth Richards, Sofia Villenas, Rebecca Creamer, Margaret Wakeley, Tony Ciccone, Katharine Constas, Amanda Schaufler, Alex Sosebee, Chris Griswold, Jessy Certain, Hannah Sumner, Greta Unetich, Jennie Cramer, Shayna Grajo, Katie Sims, Yvette Rubio, Justin Chandler, Daisy Fan, Tricia Klitsch, Kelly Patwell, Lori & Dave Brewer, Nerissa Russell, Taylor Peck, Simon St.​ ​Laurent, Dorota Kossowska, Rebecca Evans, Ashley Cake, Stephanie Valletta, Stephanie Moore, Sarah House, Norma Gutierrez, Southside Community Center!
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This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County.
Thanks also for funding from the ROTARY CLUB of Ithaca and COMMUNITY FOUNDATION of Tompkins County. 
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Mural History (2010 - today)
“Escaping on the Master's Horse"
Underground Railroad Mural

by Jonathan Matas painted in 2010.
​Learn more about this beautiful mural ​here!
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Please share this page with others.
Let's send a message to our community that ALL BLACK LIVES MATTER.
​“I have heard their groans & sighs, & seen their tears, & I would ​give every drop of the blood in my veins to free them."
- 
Harriet Tubman
“We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present & the future."
- Frederick Douglass
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Ithaca Murals is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Transformative Action, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization.
​Donate to Ithaca Murals HERE!
  • About
    • In The News
    • Videos
    • Local Context
    • Artivism Quotes
    • Other Artivism Orgs
    • Coloring Books!
  • Paint
    • Thriving Futures 2025
    • Democracy Walls
    • Grants
    • Mural Ideas
    • Paint
  • Map
    • Tours
    • Classroom Visits
    • Virtual Tour
    • Past Murals
  • Murals
    • AAPI Murals
    • Belle Sherman Murals
    • BJM Legacy Mural
    • BLOG: Ithaca is Murals
    • Camp Earth Connection
    • Cayuga Heights Mural
    • Cinemapolis Mural
    • Dorothy Cotton Mural
    • Ithaca Votes
    • Karen Mural
    • Latin American Murals
    • Learning Web Mural 2019
    • Northeast Elementary School
    • New Roots Mural 2019
    • Portals to Peace
    • ReUse Murals
    • Sciencenter
    • South Hill Rec Trail
    • Southside Bikes
    • Southside Murals
    • Sunrise on the Green New Deal
    • Terrance Vann @ CCE
    • Thriving Futures
    • Underground Railroad Mural
    • Vehicles
    • WellBeing (2021)
    • WellBeing (2022)
    • Year Of Water
  • Artists
    • Artist Survey
    • Via Carpenter
  • Contact
    • Survey
    • Our Board
    • Organizing Team
    • WorkStudy
    • Assistant Coordinator Job
    • Merch
  • Donate!