Brooklyn-based muralist Danielle Mastrion has transformed the city’s first hotel-to-affordable-housing conversion into a soaring tribute to Queens, creating her tallest work to date on the facade of Baisely Pond Park Residences near JFK Airport. Produced by ArtBridge and visible from both the Belt Parkway and JFK flight paths, the 13-story mural features smiling children, flowers, and butterflies symbolizing growth and transformation. Mastrion developed the imagery through direct community engagement, incorporating inspiration from local elementary school students who expressed pride in their neighborhood’s proximity to JFK. The piece is rich with “Easter eggs” honoring southeast Queens’ cultural identity, including references to the area’s hip-hop legacy through Run DMC-style typography and gold rope chains, while a young boy gazes toward the airport holding a toy airplane. Mastrion innovated technically as well, using a Meta Quest 3 VR headset to map her renderings when the building’s scale proved too large for traditional projection methods. Working with assistant artists Outer Source, Vince Ballentine, and Anthony Carter, and using materials donated by Sherwin-Williams, she completed the massive piece in just over a month, creating what she describes as “a big welcome to New York City.”
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