New Mural in East Camden Honors Neighborhood’s Past

CAMDEN – First-generation American and East Camden resident Breiner Garcia says he never thought he would some day paint something that thousands of people would see.

“I would never have imagined five, six years ago being an artist,” Garcia told TAPinto Camden in an interview. ‘My parents were struggling Guatemalan immigrants.”

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Yet, there was Garcia, standing and beaming with pride in front of a mural that he and other members of Camden’s We Live Here Artist Collective – Priscilla Rios and Don T. Williams – helped paint on the lower third of a building at 1700 Admiral Wilson Blvd. and that was officially unveiled on Tuesday, July 16.

Garcia said he and the other mural collaborators interviewed community leaders, met with other residents, studied old buildings and reviewed images to design and paint the mural over a 12-month period. He added, “It was important for us to memorialize what East Camden is all about.”

According to the various organizations who sponsored the project, the mural depicts multiple parts of the neighborhood’s history, showing the now-defunct Arlo Theatre, the New Jersey Transit's Riverline precursor known as the Camden & Amboy Railroad & Transportation Co., and the still-in-operation Panzarotti Spot and Rocco’s Steaks. The wraparound mural also includes portraits of some of the neighborhood’s most famous residents and leaders, including drive-in movie theater creator Richard Hollingshead, Camden Churches Organized for People co-founder Rosa Ramirez and former Camden Mayor Randy Primas.

Rev. Heyward D. Wiggins III, pastor of the nearby Camden Bible Tabernacle, blessed the mural during the unveiling ceremony. He later told TAPinto Camden that the mural depicts some of his mentors and idols.

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“They taught me how to invest in the city with my personal character and ability,” Wiggins said. “My hope is that the inspiration they gave me will inspire others to be involved in the uplifting and rebuilding of this city.”

Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen said the mural, by finding a solution (in this case, using community partnerships) to a problem (in this case, removing a blighted building), helps epitomize the “Camden Strong” phrase he often uses at public events to inspire others to be part of finding solutions to Camden’s problems to better the city’s future.

Felix Moulier, a project manager at Saint Joseph’s Carpenter Society – one of the organizations that sponsored the project – told TAPinto Camden the mural cost $25,000. Of that total, $15,000 came from Al Bush, the owner of the Bush Refrigeration building where the mural was painted, with the balance paid for by New Jersey’s Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program. According to the State of New Jersey website, this program provides businesses with tax credits equaling the business’s donation for community revitalization projects spearheaded by a nonprofit organization.

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