Sonja Alexander
Headquarters, Washington, DC               September 12, 2000
(Phone: 202/358-1761)

Tsipi Ben-Haim
City Arts, New York, NY
(Phone: 212/966-0377)

RELEASE:  00-142

NASA AND CITYARTS DEDICATE MURAL THAT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD

     More than 130 New York City youths had the opportunity to 
describe what it would be like to live on Mars, but not with 
words. These students used their imaginations and a paint brush.

They created a 7,000 square foot mural completed at the end of 
July that is one of the largest in New York City and is on the 
Bronx Community Elementary 64 building that faces the school yard. 
Students and community members painted the space scenes under the 
direction of artists Nicholas A. Enright and Nils Folke Anderson 
of Big Hands, a Bronx-based artist collaborative. Although NASA 
provided visual information to help spark the students' 
imaginations, the children relied mostly on their own creativity 
to interpret space exploration, past and present, with a focus on 
Mars.

This permanent outdoor mural is partially funded by the NASA Art 
Program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute. The mural's 
producers, CityArts, a non-profit thirty-two years old public art 
organization will join NASA, Community Elementary 64, Big Hands 
and other civic, state and local officials in a dedication 
ceremony on Sept. 13 at 4 p.m. EDT. The ceremony will take place 
on Townsend Ave, between E. 170 St. and E. 171 St., Bronx, NY.

The mural is a Mars Millennium Project  sponsored by the White 
House Millennium Council, the U.S. Department of Education, the 
National Endowment for the Arts, and the J. Paul Getty Trust. 

The Mars Millennium Project challenges students to work in teams 
to produce a work of art or science that reflects their vision of 
the future. "Living on Mars"  represents a new NASA millennium 
initiative of Administrator Daniel S. Goldin, who has tasked the 
NASA Art Program to reach out to diverse communities. 

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