The Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens on Monday unveiled a clean energy-inspired mural that was painted by children in the Club’s after school program in collaboration with artists from Community-Word Project.
Photo: Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens
Boys & Girls Club youth help design and paint with help from local artists Initiative supported by Champlain Hudson Power Express and created in partnership with Hydro-Québec, Flushing Bank, and Community-Word Project.
The visual artists worked with the children aged 6-14 to write a community poem about their ideas for building a cleaner future, and extracted themes from the poem to inspire the design for the mural. The central element of the design was blue to symbolize water, with themes of clean energy, protecting our planet, and building a greener future incorporated throughout the painting. The artists worked with the students to paint the mural that’s located in the Variety Club’s parking lot.
Photo: Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens
The collaborative art project was supported by Champlain Hudson Power Express (CHPE), and developed in partnership with Hydro-Québec, Flushing Bank, and Community-Word Project. CHPE is a 339-mile fully-buried transmission line that will bring clean, renewable hydropower from Québec to Queens, where once operational in 2026 it will help reduce NYC’s greenhouse gas emissions that have historically created negative health impacts on youth and communities, especially in Western Queens’ “Asthma Alley.”
The Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens is the largest youth development organization in Western Queens, helping more than 4,000 young people to succeed in school, build interpersonal bonds and develop confidence. The after school program supports the education of our children and our planet by providing educational resources in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens CEO Costa Constantinides with young artists. Photo: Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens
“For decades our youth have lived in the shadow of fossil fuel stacks that litter our landscape and pollute our air,” said Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens CEO Costa Constantinides. “An energy revolution is taking place now in Western Queens transforming asthma alley into renewable row. CHPE is at the forefront of this transformation. Working in partnership with CHPE, Community-Word Project and Flushing Bank, our youth have been able to learn about the energy transition and express their feelings for a cleaner, greener future through this wonderful mural here at Variety Boys and Girls Club.”
“It was inspiring to see our youth in Queens generate ideas around clean energy and creating a path to a greener future as we continue to build CHPE,“ said Hydro Québec Senior Director of Stakeholder Relations Pete Rose. “This project with the Variety Boys and Girls Club of Queens and the Community-Word Project gives students opportunities to foster connections, discover their passions through education, and develop an understanding of how our clean energy transition will benefit their community.”
“I’m pleased that so many of our borough’s young people worked on this impressive project,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. “Creating this mural has helped teach our kids a valuable lesson about the need to protect our environment. It’s great that they are learning at an early age about the importance of creating a green future. Thank you to the Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens, Community-Word Project, Hydro Quebec, and Flushing Bank for creating this opportunity for our youth.”
Photo: Variety Boys & Girls Club of Queens
