The mural, "A Dream Grows in Brooklyn" was designed, organized, and executed
by Elyse Taylor. It was commissioned by
City Arts, and sponsored by the Snapple
Beverage Company. Painted on the harbor side of Snapple's distribution plant, it rose
32 feet, and spanned 93 feet. The imagery presented a colorful fantasy depicting young
people in various circumstances. All the faces and figures in the mural are in the likeness
of the actual youngsters who worked on the project. The road of fruit [Snapple flavors] represents their
journey through life. The scale is enormous! A tall person could fit into the orange slice
in the middle of the mural!
The mural was completed in the fall of 1994, and dedicated in 1995. The building was demolished in 2019. The site is to become a UPS distribution center.
Assistants: Gwinn Alderson, John Alighne, Diane Boisvert, Ernesto Gomez, Yoshiro Itami, Lisa Kaiser, Christine Lee, Yusaku Mizoguchi, Emilio Narvaez, Betty Sword.
Youth Assistants: Kirk Cooper, Shacora Gordon, Shawanna Gordon, Sonia Gordon, Tierra Gordon, Charity Ortiz, Loddy Otuyelu, Steven Rivera, Isabel Torres, Nephtali Torres.
Elyse took many, many pictures. Selected pictures are on three sub-page slide shows: