East Harlem
El Barrio's murals are among the oldest and most historically important in New York City. The neighborhood's Puerto Rican and Latino community created one of the first urban mural movements in America here in the late 1960s and 1970s — long before the term "street art" existed. The tradition continues, and new works arrive alongside old giants that have defined these blocks for decades.
Featured Artists
All artists →Hank Prussing
One of the original 1970s East Harlem muralists, Prussing's "Spirit of East Harlem" at Lexington and 104th Street is one of the oldest surviving murals in New York City. Painted in 1978 and twice restored, the mural depicts the neighborhood's Puerto Rican and African American communities in a style that drew directly on Diego Rivera's influence at a time when that connection was explicit and political.
Maria Dominguez
East Harlem native whose mural practice centers the neighborhood's Puerto Rican economic and cultural institutions. "La Marqueta Lives" documents the legendary East 116th Street market beneath the Park Avenue rail viaduct — a market that defined El Barrio's Caribbean identity for five decades and has been slowly disappearing since the 1990s.
Tats Cru
Founded in the South Bronx in 1980, Tats Cru — Nicer, BG183, and How — are the most prolific muralists in New York City history, with over 500 documented works. "Celia" is their tribute to Celia Cruz, painted shortly after her death in 2003 — a luminous portrait in Cuban flag colors that has become a de facto shrine in El Barrio.