Community Corner

Beautifying The West End Tile by Tile

Mural project at deli is meant to lift the spirits of the post-Hurricane Sandy community.


Head down to Friendly Deli, at the southwest corner of New York Avenue and West Beech Street in Long Beach, and there you’ll find Lisa Mascolo working outside on a tiled mural.

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The former art teacher is taking part in a West End beautification project that is spearheaded by Project 11561, an organization established after Hurricane Sandy to help Long Beach rebuild, and has attracted several local sponsors.

The mural’s square white tiles feature colorful paintings of beach and ocean scenes, created by young artists ages 10 and under, as well as a mosaic of larger tiles that depict the sun shining through a curling wave. A greeting on the tiles reads: “Welcome To The West End.”

“It’s been a few months in the making,” Mascolo said of the continuing project when Patch visited Wednesday.

Michelle Kelly, owner of Earth Arts, design for the title mural. The Park Avenue business was opened to the budding artists to paint the kiln-baked tiles, as was Seaside Celebrations on West Beech. A local mason, Radical Masonry, applied the cement scratch coat to the wall to give the tiles a secure base.

Mascolo, whose Long Beach home was totaled during Hurricane Sandy, said the project is meant, in the wake of the storm, to lift residents’ spirits in the West End and the community at large.

“The project gave the kids a sense of ownership,” she said.


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