When I moved to Trenton in 1997 the Old Trenton Neighborhood was comprised primarily of Latinos, most of which were Puerto Rican. Leon Rainbow would like to celebrate that heritage of the past but also give a nod to the future. Leon will lead a team of artists and community members to create Two amazing murals to celebrate the culture and contributions of Puerto Ricans in Trenton. One on the pool house and the other on the basketball court.
We started the process in February 2020 after receiving the grant from I Am Trenton. We started working with Elena Cromeyer formerly of the Trenton Health Team to facilitate the community action brainstorming sessions. Soon after the Covid 19 pandemic hit and we were unable to meet in large groups. After a few months we were able to to get a game plan together to meet online via the Zoom Platform. After several zoom meetings we were able to move forward into the design process. We submitted the designs to the City of Trenton and community partners.
Once the designs were approved we were ready to start the painting process. It was to late in the season to complete the basketball court mural. We hope to complete the mural in Spring 2021.
We completed the pool house mural at Roberto Clemente in September 2021 with the help of fellow artists Dave “Mek” Klama and Ryan Fabritz.
