Congratulations to the winner of our first ever Students Give Back Mural Contest! Vincent Panepinto (Port Richmond High School, 11th Grade) designed this gorgeous mural for volunteers to paint at P.S. 171 M on New York Cares Day next Saturday, October 23. We can’t wait to see the completed mural!

2nd Prize: Jamie Sterner, Port Richmond High School, 12th Grade

3rd Prize: Steven Edwards, Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School, 11th Grade

The 20 Given Sundays Project is the brainchild of Adam Murphy, a New York Cares volunteer who has set out to prove that even the busiest corporate schedule can fit in a little philanthropy. He’s dedicating 20 Sundays out of the year to volunteer projects all across the world – from the Bronx to London and back!

Closer to home, blogger Kim Kullmer is an NYC-based artist who has worked on a number of public school murals for New York Cares. For New York Cares Day, Kim is designing and sketching murals to be painted by volunteers on our largest day of service. Get a sneak peek of her designs on her blog.

We ♥ volunteer bloggers for their work, both in service and in writing. Do you know any volunteers-turned-bloggers? Send us a link, and we may feature them on our website!

By Dakotah West, New York Cares Youth Service Manager

Thinking about designing a mural for the New York Cares Day Students Give Back! Mural Contest? As a judge for our first ever design contest, I’m excited to give teens a new opportunity to share their ideas and thoughts. Apply today and find out where your art will take you.

Once, on a mural painting project, a volunteer painted all the clouds brown when I had my back turned. Flabbergasted, I asked why. “No one told me what color to paint them,” he responded, shrugging. Apparently I needed to work on my communication skills.

Usually, on the day of a project, I sketch the design on the wall like a giant paint-by-numbers coloring book, bring printouts of the mural, and mix hues beforehand. When the volunteers arrive, all they have to do is get the paint from the cups onto the wall – easy peasy.

Looking back, I know why I had a smoggy, brown-cloud mural. Volunteers want to do more than get the paint on the wall – they want to create a thing of beauty, even if they don’t know how. Planning is important, but painting means releasing expectations and having fun.

Sometimes, mistakes can be improvements. At the end of the day, colors seem brighter when they’re painted with joy.

Now is a great time to get a team together for New York Cares Day.  We still need 2,000 more volunteers to sign-up so we can help every school accepted into this year’s program.

New York Cares Day is Saturday, October 23.

So if you still haven’t registered your team, what are you waiting for? The clock is ticking – go to our official registration page and sign up now.

Are fame and fortune calling your name? Well, they are now.

We’re scouring the city’s high schools for the next great Picasso in our Students Give Back! Mural Contest. We’ll pick one budding artist to design the signature mural to be painted on New York Cares Day at one lucky NYC public school.

We’ll also feature the top three designs on newyorkcares.org and award the 2nd and 3rd place winners with some special prizes of their own. If you think you can handle all the attention your art will get, apply now. Do you have what it takes?

Preparation for New York Cares Day 2010 is officially underway. Beyond the good it will do for schools on October 23, it’s also an excellent opportunity to gain leadership experience.

We need Site Captains, Team Leaders, and Registration Leaders to be the face of New York Cares out in the field. You don’t need to be an experienced Team Leader, or even attend orientation – we’ll make sure you feel confident in your role.

We also need artists to design amazing murals for volunteers to paint in classrooms, hallways, and playgrounds. Your art will be seen by thousands of community members, and teachers tell us the best part of New York Cares Day is seeing students’ faces when they walk in the door and see how beautiful their school looks.

Whatever your talents, help us make this amazing day of service happen! Learn more about these roles, or contact nycd@newyorkcares.org.

This year for Hands On New York Day we partnered with the NYC Department of Transportation and the Urban Art Program to beautify the city’s streetscapes by painting temporary art installations on Jersey Barriers. In record time, 125 volunteers completed murals along a bike path in Williamsburg that passing cyclists said looked awesome.

We’re partnering with the NYC Department of Transportation to liven up jersey barriers on NYC streets this spring.

The NYCDOT Urban Art Program is looking for artists to submit colorful mural designs to turn these ordinary traffic dividers into creative street art installations, which will be painted by Hands On New York Day 2010 volunteers.

Submit your design by March 1, and you could have your work seen by millions of New Yorkers!

NY1′s coverage of New York Cares Day in Brooklyn this morning is now online. Watch it here.

Look out for NY1′s interview with Site Captain Sue Craine in Staten Island also. Volunteers came from as far away as Tulsa, OK, to paint murals and plant bulbs at I.S. 49 SI.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and Brooklyn Councilwoman Letisha James came to P.S. 67 in Brooklyn to thank our volunteers and deliver a proclamation honoring New York Cares Day. To thank Marty for stopping by, our mural artist, Melissa Jacobson, added his pet parrot, Beep, to the jungle themed cafeteria.

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