ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Rochester community center tapped a well-known street artist from Brazil for a project that’s meant to help transform an inner-city neighborhood. Those involved in the mural project hope it sparks bigger things.

Art is in Eder Muniz’ soul. The simple piece he worked on recently inside Rochester’s Montgomery Neighborhood Center was easy, compared to the piece he recently completed outside, a large mural with an African-American woman as the focal point.  

What You Need To Know

  • A Rochester community center tapped a well-known street artist from Brazil for a project that’s meant to help transform an inner-city neighborhood

  • SWAN hired Eder Muniz to create the piece, in the agency’s senior community garden, to highlight the good in the neighborhood

  • SWAN has also started an art gallery inside the center, to highlight works of neighborhood artists

“A beautiful Black woman is a really strong symbol to the neighborhood,” said Muniz.

The mural is part of a movement.

“It literally took my breath away,” said Tiffany Owens, executive director of SWAN, which provides family emergency services.  

At SWAN, art has become a way to break down barriers.

“We are planning to leverage artwork to bring people together,” said Owens. “To have those difficult discussions with something that we can all relate to, and we can all relate to art."

“When you do art, you talk about love,” said Muniz. “You care about something.”

SWAN hired Muniz to create the piece, in the agency’s senior community garden, to highlight the good in the neighborhood.

“When you see a piece like this, for me, it makes me calm down,” he said. “It makes me feel I’m in nature, so I have more compassion.”

“I hope it rotates the energy around,” said Martin Carey, an artist who worked on the mural. “I feel like it’s a symbol to get outside, go around, clean stuff up, and really get in touch with nature and the people around you.”

SWAN has also started an art gallery inside the center, to highlight works of neighborhood artists.

“We have to spend more time thinking of positive things,” said Owens. “Promoting positive things and showing people images that bring hope, instead of hopelessness.”

It was Muniz's goal to capture the true soul of a neighborhood, and instill a message of hope.

“It’s a message we need now,” said Muniz. “We’re going through a hard time. The world is going through a hard time, so we need a positive vibration.”