The mural entitled I Deal, I Dream, I Do is hard to miss when you are passing Fourth Avenue in Gowanus.  I pass by this mural every so often during car rides, and it really stands out from all the other surroundings.  It depicts the idea that women go through constant struggles to achieve their goals and ambitions.  This mural is the size of a billboard.  It fills up an entire wall and it is high up on the building, making it easy to see for anyone passing by.  At the center of the mural, you see a girl holding a book with a smile on her face.  She stands out because she is the biggest part of the mural.  There are four other images that border the girl.  The one on the upper left shows a woman doing a yoga pose and another woman reading a book.  The image on the upper right displays two females, one painting and the other looking through a telescope.  These represent positive concepts in life.  Then the bottom left image shows a young girl carrying a baby and a silhouette of people gossiping in the background.  The final image represents a young woman taking care of an older child, and there are two people arguing in the background.  These bottom two images depict the more difficult moments in one’s life and the life of a young girl.  Looking at all of these figures makes you contemplate what each story is about and it also makes you wonder what struggles and accomplishments the girl in the center of the portrait went through.

According to the Groundswell website, the women who are part of the program called Voices Her’D Visionaries painted this mural in 2004.  It is a mural that is meant to last and spread the message that all women can carry out any plan as long as they set their mind to it.  The mural was created with acrylic paint and is immense, taking up three stories of a building.  The building that it was painted on is the CHIPS building, which serves as a housing center for women and children.  There is definitely a connection between the mural and what the building stands for.  The mural represents themes of struggle and the area where it was painted serves as a refuge for women going through life’s struggles.  You come across a variety of colors as you focus your attention on the various images.  These colors include yellow, brown, red, green, and blue.  There is a lot of detail in this piece of public art, which shows that the women who worked on the painting really applied themselves to make it special.  I would not recommend analyzing this mural as you are driving because it is not something you can easily glance at and understand.  It is best to stand as close as you can, so that you can get a good view of the artwork and so you can really grasp and appreciate why it was painted in the first place.