Artist's Sunset Park Murals Liven Up Neighborhood Streets

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — Artist Jenna Morello has painted around half a dozen murals on walls and buildings around Sunset Park.

Morello, though, isn't trying to "beautify the town" or anything like that, she says. She mostly just enjoys the peace and quiet.

"There’s really nothing around there. It’s really industrial. The walls are really long and they’re not a mess," she told Patch. "If I go paint other places, you can have a lot of people at your back. But sometimes it’s just nice to paint where there’s not a lot of people around."

Morello, a professional artist who lives in Bay Ridge, said that some of her Sunset Park work was commissioned by building tenants or paint companies.

Others, such as a painting of gears she did outside of an auto body shop, were done as a barter in return for some car repairs.

And unlike other places she paints, in New York City and around the country, where such work draws a crowd or neighborhood complaints, she says Sunset Parkers mostly leave her be.

"I’m lucky enough that people allow it," Morello said. "They let me paint whatever I want. and I make sure it’s neighborhood-appropriate and it’s not anything crazy."

Her most recognizable piece of work may be a wall of roses she painted on 42nd Street and Third Avenue. Morello said she likes the warm colors and design of the roses. The idea didn't come from anywhere in particular, she said.

"I kind of go through phases in my art, in the pieces that I make," she said. "I painted anatomical stuff, I did animals, and lately I’ve done roses."

Her other paintings, which you can see above, have included lions, eagles and wings, her most recent work. For more info on Morello and her work, click here.

Editor's note: This story was initially published on Wednesday, March 8.

Images courtesy Jenna Morello