Butterflies and the windows of curiosities are coming soon to a long neglected Fulton Street wall often subjected to graffiti and public urination in Queen Village.

A fine canvas

770 S. 4th St., currently under construction. Will soon be a day care, from what we understand

Queen Village artist Conrad Booker is scheduled to begin painting his mural “Harmony and the Windows of Curiosities” in mid- or late-May, at 770 S. 4th St. Booker is known around the neighborhood for his public art installations that included recent installations of butterflies, fashioned out of beer and soda cans, in Headhouse Square and along Fabric Row.

“It’s almost like looking into the past,” said Booker about the mural. Booker, who for years designed artistic architectural renderings for firms like Rasmussen/Su was approached by a group of Fulton Street neighbors familiar with his work and interested in transforming a beat-up wall into a positive community art project.

Members of the Queen Village Neighborhood Association are helping spread the word about the project as well as compile donations for the $13K project. The mural will feature a map of the area as it appeared in 1865, when Fulton Street was known as Harmony Street, and the Weccacoe Playground was an African-American cemetery. Booker said it’s something of a reflection of life and death, and the unfamiliar scenes one might see when passing by and looking through a window. Butterflies fly above the wall’s pre-constructed windows and out towards the park.

Rendering of the mural

Hopefully, this project will mean an end to graffiti and other negative behaviors at this property, and make the walk down Fabric Row a little more pleasant for everybody.

–Lou Mancinelli