Barrier Reefs commissioned by the New York City Department of Transportation in summer 2022 as part of the City’s “Barrier Beautification” initiative.

Barrier Reefs is inspired by the abundant flora and fauna found in the New York Harbor Estuary. Each abstracted shape depicts a different sessile species:  eastern oysters, blue mussels, northern quahogs, sea lettuces, barnacles, sea grapes, chain tunicates, and red beard sponges. Barrier Reefs is an organic, non-repeating pattern that spans approximately a half-mile in length along Clinton Street, from South Street to Delancey Street.  Murals were hand painted on 42 , 3 feet by 20 feet concrete barriers.

Special thanks to all volunteers who assisted in mural painting: Charlotte Fleming, Casey Opstad, Jennifer Bombardier, Antonio Lopez, Helene Hetrick, Katelin Guregian, Matt Cynamon, Rory Power, Paul Power,  Matthew Pietrus, William Vidal, Benjamin Huff,  Esther Mathieu, Angela Zhu, Annie Jiang, Katie Jiang, Ada Jiang, Aviva Bolen, Dione Mertl, Bella Carpenber, Caroline Li, Corey Kingston, Debora Lazarev, Aislinn Moloney, Desiree Tuttle, Emily Simpson, Evdokia Sofos, Gabby Forward, Hannah Martin, Jason Duffy, Kai Simpson, Karl Urban, Kat Callicoat, Katie Im, Liza Polyudova, Lukas Azcurrian, Marcy Chelmow, Marisa Mattiasen, Miguel Mariano, Natalie Siregar, Sam Arthur, Stephanie Amupolo, and Yegyu Shim.