The tallest mural in the U.S. is now in the South Bronx and we got a first look

The South Bronx just gave New Yorkers a 300-foot reason to look up from their phones.

“Un MAR de Gente / From Every Shore,” a new mural stretching more than 300 feet up a 29-story NYCHA building at Morrisania Air Rights, has officially arrived. Organizers call it the tallest mural in the United States, giving the South Bronx a national superlative that has neighborhood roots.

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Created by Dominican artist Nestor Omar García, known as Angurria, the artwork celebrates Dominican heritage and the people who make the surrounding community tick. It depicts Bronx residents whose stories helped shape the enormous portrait of neighborhood life. Across three sections, the street art features a grandmother wearing hair rollers and holding a baby, people representing different cultures and two children playing near a fire hydrant.

The rollers are especially personal: Angurria traces his signature imagery to childhood memories of women at his mother’s salon in the Dominican Republic. His recurring “Doña Patria” character takes her name from his mother, bringing a familiar expression of Dominican beauty culture into public view.

For this commission, public art nonprofit ArtBridge worked with Angurria and Bronx artist Fernando Ortiz, founder of FOGA, to gather residents’ ideas through community workshops. The Morrisania Air Rights Residents Association and Public Housing Community Fund also collaborated on the project.

Neighbors had opinions on the details, right down to the accessories. “We decided on things collaboratively, from the scrunchies to the T-shirts and shoes,” ArtBridge program director Jon Souza told PIX11. For anyone passing through, it’s an introduction to the families who call the development home.

Artists, residents and project partners celebrated the mural’s formal unveiling yesterday, October 27, after neighbors watched its progress for weeks. To see it for yourself, head to Morrisania Air Rights at 3145 Park Avenue, near East 158th Street in Melrose. The building’s exterior is the canvas, so this art outing requires no timed ticket or fear of standing too close.

In a city where getting a little wall space usually costs a fortune, the neighbors have landed quite a gallery.