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Free Upper West Side News, Delivered To Your Inbox<\/a><\/p>\n A large-scale piece of public art was unveiled on Monday afternoon on the Upper West Side \u2014 and it represents far more than a splash of color on a construction fence.<\/p>\n The mural, titled The Future We Create, was designed by artist Vanesa \u00c1lvarez and assistant artist Derval Fairweather in collaboration with public art nonprofit ArtBridge. Installed near the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 62nd Street, it now adorns the construction fencing along the perimeter of Damrosch Park, where Lincoln Center\u2019s long-planned transformation of its western campus<\/a> is getting underway. <\/p>\n The artwork is the product of a participatory process that included workshops and conversations led by \u00c1lvarez with local residents, NYCHA neighbors, students and other community stakeholders, who helped shape the mural\u2019s themes and imagery.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is more than a piece of art \u2014 it\u2019s a story,\u201d \u00c1lvarez said at the unveiling. \u201cBehind this mural is a history of community: of joy, of color, of people spending time together, creating together, believing in the arts, and being part of making it.\u201d<\/p>\n For Fairweather, the project carries personal significance. \u201cI grew up around Lincoln Center and the Amsterdam Houses, so being involved in this work truly feels like a homecoming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The unveiling marks a milestone in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) Lincoln Center West Initiative, the roughly $335 million project that will remove the wall along Damrosch Park and replace it with open entrances, garden spaces with increased greenery and biodiversity, and a new outdoor amphitheater for free performances. Lincoln Center first announced the initiative<\/a> in 2023 as an effort to \u201cbreak down barriers, physical and otherwise\u201d between the campus and the surrounding community \u2014 an acknowledgment of the site\u2019s origins as a 1950s urban renewal project that displaced the San Juan Hill neighborhood<\/a>. Hood Design Studio, WEISS\/MANFREDI and Moody Nolan are leading the design work. <\/p>\n Construction is now underway, with the transformed campus expected to open in summer 2028.<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s event included a guided walk along the mural and a reception in the David Geffen Hall lobby. Lincoln Center President and CEO Mariko Silver said the mural \u201creflects the joy and pride of New Yorkers and, in particular, of our immediate neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n