June 2, 2016 By Michael Florio
A new mural captures the essence of Sunnyside.
The mural, which was completed last week, was designed by a Sunnyside student and painted by a Sunnyside artist on the wall of The Lowery, a bar and kitchen that will open on the corner of 43rd Street and 43rd Avenue.
Anne Muldoon, co-owner of The Lowery, and her partners decided they wanted to find a way to showcase the community on their wall. Muldoon, who lives next to P.S. 150, reached out to the school regarding the project and was put in touch with art teacher Anne Cunningham Wine.
Cunningham Wine then had her students each draw pictures that incorporated the neighborhood. Muldoon and her partners, along with the local painter Simon Robinson, went through the submissions to choose one to adapt as a mural.
“It was a really difficult choice,” Muldoon said. “All the kids are so talented and had great pictures.”
Ultimately, the drawing submitted by Arpad Tomity, a 12-year-old from P.S. 150, was selected.
“The drawing replicates Sunnyside,” Muldoon said. “You can see the buildings and we felt it very much fit the neighborhood.”
Muldoon and her partners were also fans of how colorful the drawing was.
“It is bright, colorful and fun,” she said.
The mural design made for an end of the year project for the students in Cunningham Wine’s class, according to Muldoon.
She has received positive responses since it was painted, she said.
“A lot of people stop and check out the mural,” she said. “The community seems to love it and we love the feedback.”
She plans to add a plaque to the mural and host an unveiling where she can officially thank the school, Cunningham Wine, Tomity and Robinson personally. She is planning on hosting this event after The Lowery opens.
She was hoping to have the mural painted after the bar/kitchen opened, but she is still waiting on the City for the green light to open. As the school year was coming to an end, she decided to go forward with the mural.
Muldoon said she could not talk about specific issues with the City process but stated that the Lowery is ready to open once the paperwork is cleared up. The timetable remains up in the air.
“We are ready and want to open,” she said. “It is breaking our hearts that we are not open.”
The Lowery will be a neighborhood bar and grill offering American cuisine and craft cocktails as well as beer and wine.
Muldoon is hoping to become a new “go-to” spot for Sunnyside residents.
“There are a lot of great neighborhood locations in Sunnyside,” she said. “We are happy to be an addition to the neighborhood.”
“We cannot wait to be a part of this community,” she said.
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45 Comments
Love the Mural. There is plenty of space on the upper part of the building façade, above the Lowery sign; and that space wraps around. What a great opportunity for a Mural of the 7-train. Also good business to show the 7-train brings you a short walk to the restaurant.
Sorry greenhaven,
Hey Gilligan, you must have spent some time in the brig,huh? Sing sing? Greenhorn? Dannamorra?
I don’t like the grey facade. It is too close to a prison grey color and is kind of drab. The mural would have been nice on the handball courts at Skillman Park (Lou Lodati Park for you newbies). We are very eager to check out the place once it opens! Best of Luck!
It’s a eye sore and totally out of place. What does a child’s art work mural and a bar have in common? A better place would of been I don’t know, the school wall maybe. Hideous!
the renovation looks amazing but this mural use bright primary colors. Should of at least toned down some colors to fit into the look of the lowery, the bright yellow should be gold like in the logo, blue should a shade that relates back to the gray. from up close the artist did a great job, just uses fisher price toy colors which dont fit with the place
It is hideous, its misplaced, and it does make it look like a day care Center. With that said who cares ill be inside having a drink as long as there’s not one inside with a swings etc, a sandbox and a slide
The scale is way off, the theme is confused (Is the arch a bridge or portal now and Where’s the 7?) and the work overall is very derivative.
This travesty makes Sunnyside look like a Chinese knockoff of Toontown! Trying not to offend like the drug free america color pallete chosen, it’s more of an atttempt at characterizing those heinous people rudimentary scrawled with feces on to this piece of “S”. Really, are they melted peeps, nuked Lego men or The Simpson’s depicted by Edvard Munch?
Assessment: 1/10
Verdict: Turn PS 150 a magnet school for the visually challenged or that special lot that eats their lead paint during the creative process.
The scale is way off, the theme is confused (Is the arch a bridge or portal now and Where’s the 7?) and the work overall is very derivative.
This travesty makes Sunnyside look like a Chinese knockoff of Toontown! Trying not to offend like the drug free america color pallete chosen, it’s more of an atttempt at characterizing those heinous people rudimentary scrawled with feces on to this piece of “S”.
Really, are they melted peeps, nuked Lego men or The Simpson’s depicted by Edvard Munch?
Overall:1/10
Verdict: Turn PS 150 a magnet school for the visually challenged or that special lot that eats their lead paint during the creative process.
Seriously stop reporting on this business until it opens. Who gives a fuck?
For all the money spent on this place it looks terrible…..I would sue the designer
Lovely, but misplaced. Should have been done by an adult for a community wide audience. It should be proudly displayed on the artist’s family refrigerator, not a major thoroughfare of the neighborhood.
It looks fantastic and creates a real sense of community spirit which Sunnyside is all about great job guys well done!!
Thank you!! When I taught the lesson on murals to the 6th grade class we had a great discussion about our community and how we could represent it through design. The students worked from many photos and images of the community. The class narrowed it down to their top five. These five design were then submitted to the restaurant for consideration.
It’s hideous. In a few weeks, it will be defaced.
grump.
I would like to see you defaced!
I think it’s neat that the bar engaged with the community like this, but as someone who walks by there a lot I kind of wish they’d gone pro rather than having a kid design their mural.
Haters gonna Hate,
It looks great, Whole outside of bar does, very fresh.
Makes it look like the lowery has a day care center .
Its beautiful but misplaced.
That’s a great idea! Get drunk off my Cab Sauv then be burped and put to sleep for a nap.
I have to say it’s really bad, all of it including the whole gray design with windows? Who did they hire for design, it’s so dull and dated and mural is totally off, sorry.
They didn’t HIRE anyone to do the design. It was designed by an elementary school student at PS 150!!! All of that information is in the article!!!
Should have been by a local street artist …if i say graffiti you hipsters will flip…lmaoo
Murals and graffiti art are different types of art. Tagging is vandalism.
It should have been by a local graffiti artist …
How long will it be until some scrappers tag and spray on it?
Taggers should be publicly flogged like the do in Singapore.
there’s a mural on 48th avenue that’s been there for at least 20 years. and hasn’t been tagged by scrappers. murals don’t get touched the way blank walls do, all the more reason to have more murals.
You mean the one on 43rd Street, near 48th Avenue?
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7393069,-73.9193061,3a,75y,19.96h,90.14t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1Ih08pgLc2ft23x1Wfsqog!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
48th ave and 46th street…
Beautiful artwork from a a very talented school child.
Reminds me of the art contests that the B’nai Brith from the now gone Synagogue on 43rd St used to hold. for the school children. They picked a theme and the children did their best to depict it .. Prizes were awarded on grade level and the artwork was displayed all around Sunnyside for all to enjoy ..
It was the annual Brotherhood poster contest . All the neighborhood schools participated and there was a luncheon to honor all the winners. My mother was president of the Sunnyside Women’s chapter and very involved in the organization of the event.
I think I see the Change guy in there
I hate murals.
And murals hate you. I think it’s great .
you are a fool. These murals are beautiful and there should be one on every blank wall. How can you hate them. You need to get out of your little cave once in a while. Ask your mommy for a couple of dollars so you can go out.
Great. Now can someone tell the owners of The Lowery that Queens shouldn’t be pluralized? (see the other side of the building – they have it spelled “Sunnyside Queen’s”. It’s hilarious.
phew-thank goodness we got that out in the open. i feel much better about the neighborhood.
It should be pluralized… it shouldn’t have an apostrophe. Learn your grammar, apostrophes don’t imply pluralization.
Celebrate the queens of queens
whatch takin bout?
What you mean to say is that the word “Queens” is not possessive.
Wonder why it’s written as a plural and not as a possessive? It was named for ONR Queen and it’s reasonable to think that naming it for Catherine of Braganza would lead to it being called the “Queen’s” county, but the possessive apostrophe was probably dropped do disassociate us from British authority and the s added for phonaesthetic reasons.