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Syracuse International Jazz Festival founder Frank Malfitano wasn’t going to let the public art scene wither away during the COVID-19 pandemic. Malfitano decided a mural was the best route to revitalize the local art scene.
“Museums were shuttered and arts organizations and cultural institutions were all closed,” Malfitano said. “I didn’t think that should stop the flow of art happening in the community.”
Many murals have sprouted in Syracuse in recent years, with a few debuting over the summer. Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today (TNT)’s City as Canvas and the New York Department of Transportation fueled some of these projects, livening the city with spirit and creativity, Malfitano said.
Whether it’s murals holding historical significance or more novel ones, they represent more than just paintings on a wall, Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts professor and illustrator London Ladd said. From the long, painstaking process of designing and funding murals to securing a specific building, murals encapsulate an arduous love affair that brings only good to the community, Ladd said.
“(Public art) comes to life with a sense of creativity, color and community. Syracuse was something that was nothing, and now the area is better,” Ladd said. “There’s no downside to public art.”
Malfitano submitted the concept for his “Legendary Syracuse Firsts” mural to the Syracuse Public Art Commission in 2020. The mural featured four basketball players connected to Salt City: Breanna Stewart, Earl Lloyd Jr., Dolph Schayes and Manny Breland.
When Malfitano enlisted Los Angeles-based muralist Jonas Never to paint the “Legendary Syracuse Firsts” mural, he faced backlash for not sourcing local artists. Philadelphia-based artist Chris Murray said he received the same “outsider treatment,” especially when gathering donations for his upcoming Jim Boeheim mural.
“I got that ‘You don’t live here, why should we help you?’ (treatment), from the early stages, right up to the end of the fundraising. That’s been my experience doing these projects,” Murray said.
Murray was born in Norfolk, New York, but grew up two and a half hours away from Syracuse. Boeheim’s prowess still reached him.
Chris Murray poses in front of his mural honoring Jim Boeheim. Even though Murray is from Philadelphia, Boeheim’s larger-than-life presence still reached him. Zabdyl Koffa | Staff Photographer
“Whether it be sports, movies or comic books, I loved everything during that late 80s, early 90s basketball era,” Murray said. “Jim was at the helm of all of that with Syracuse basketball. He really just kind of gave us upstate New York kids some representation.”
After seeing the “Legendary Syracuse Firsts” mural on social media in late 2023, Murray, who lives and breathes Syracuse basketball, was inspired to honor Boeheim in a mural. He called the idea a “calling from outer space.”
To Murray’s surprise, there wasn’t yet a mural honoring Boeheim. As Murray researched, he found that Malfitano had spearheaded the “Legendary Syracuse Firsts” mural. The next morning, Murray had an hour and a half phone call with Malfitano on the ins and outs of painting the mural in Syracuse. Malfitano said he found a kindred spirit in Murray’s dedication and passion to the mural, which will be completed mid-October.
While Syracuse basketball has been followed for decades, physical music has seen an unsteady rise and fall, The Sound Garden Syracuse general manager Nick Shelton said. However, a resurgence of vinyl and CDs put the record store on the map. Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, The Sound Garden has since become a cornerstone of Syracuse music.
Local artist and longtime collaborator Tommy Lincoln was first tasked to paint The Sound Garden’s storefront black. Then, Lincoln pitched painting a mural to add a touch of character to the store – a coincidence with the store’s anniversary. While Shelton gave Lincoln complete control of the design, maintaining the store’s identity was vital.
“We also wanted the mural to become a stop of a destination, because there are people who like to travel around to see large pieces of street art,” Shelton said. “We didn’t want it to be an advertisement for the store, but a reflection of (Tommy) as an artist and the community around the store as well.”
The final product — finished this May — featured striking reds, blues and yellows, with the store’s iconic vinyls right at the center of The Sound Garden’s storefront.
The “Legendary Syracuse Firsts” mural depicts four basketball players famous for their social justice work. Breanna Stewart (right) is one of the athletes depicted in the mural. Courtesy of Frank Malfitano
Becoming a muralist was an unlikely outcome in central New York artist Russell Mason’s career. Mason started off as a studio artist selling paintings at galleries. Away from the public, Mason considered himself a “reclusive artist,” until he was asked to paint a mural in a school in Utah 15 years ago.
Mason was approached by TNT in 2024 to paint a mural of street performer Elijah “Eli” Harris Jr. on 1637 South Ave. Street. With a guitar strapped around him, Harris was spotted around the streets and corners of Syracuse, lifting people’s spirits with his music. In 2020, Harris was struck twice in a hit-and-run and died while riding his bicycle. A local Syracuse celebrity, Harris’ exuberant personality constantly lit up his surroundings everywhere he went, from the SU campus to Syracuse’s Southside, Lakisha Harris, Elijah’s daughter, said.
After meeting with TNT and Harris’ family to settle the mural’s design, Mason knew the mural needed to reflect Harris’ personality. Exclusively using bright colors and unique patterns in his design, the animated and eye-catching piece was designed to stand out against the street’s backdrop, like how Harris stood out in the crowd.
As a fellow artist himself, Mason understood Harris’s sheer passion for music, translating to his quickly approved design.
“I don’t think Eli was a person that you needed to sit down and talk to (in order) to know him,” Mason said. “Everyone knew who he was from his performance on the street. That’s where his passion was. He stood out and he’s got energy. You can just see it.”
While the mural’s colors and patterns were an easy decision, finding an image that truly personified Harris was crucial to the process. After scouring the internet for the perfect picture, Mason decided on an image of Harris strumming his guitar while singing on a street, surrounded by customers having dinner on an evening’s night.
Lakisha Harris described the photo as her father at his best: expressing himself through music.
“Think of it as you starting off a song,” Lakisha said. “It starts off slow, but towards the end of the song, that’s when it has the best and the highest impact. That’s the moment I feel like my father was in that picture.”
Mason spent two weeks priming the wall, outlining and designing the mural. But the wall’s rough, brick surface was an added challenge to the project.
After the “Legendary Syracuse Firsts” mural was completed, some referred to it as a Mount Rushmore of Syracuse basketball stars. However, Frank Malfitano didn’t intend to nominate the players for a hall of fame; instead, he hoped to call attention to their social justice work. Zabdyl Koffa | Staff Photographer
In contrast to Mason’s colorful depiction of Harris, Never chose to paint the basketball players in a timeless black and white style to emulate a design that could stand the test of time. While initial sketches were subject to change, the four players were non-negotiable.
Though each player was athletically distinguished, the four were chosen for their strong stances on social justice.
“People started calling it the Mount Rushmore of Syracuse basketball, and it was implied that these were the four greatest basketball players to ever come out of Syracuse. That was never my assertion,” Malfitano said. “My assertion was that these were four champions who fought for social justice, barrier breakers, pioneers and trailblazers.”
Though Ladd is primarily known for writing children’s books, his love for Black history expands through all artistic mediums. He too wanted to feature historical figures who had ties to Syracuse.
An open TNT call in 2018 asked local artists to paint murals across Syracuse’s quadrants. Former TNT board member Camille Coakley selected Ladd to paint two murals on Syracuse’s Southside.
Since the two were both born and raised on the Southside of Syracuse, Coakley chose Ladd for his familiarity with the area and his artistic abilities. Coakley described Ladd as one of the most renowned Black illustrators in the country.
“I wanted to illustrate how the Southside has a lot of talent and a lot of treasures that have been overlooked for so long,” Coakley said. “And so London is one of those.”
In another effort to honor the neighborhood’s roots, Ladd decided to feature Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass as part of his south quadrant murals underneath the railroad bridge on South Salina Street. King visited SU twice in 1961 and 1965, while Douglass visited Syracuse over 13 times, Ladd said.
Designs were crucial when designing the murals, but quotes played their own role in creating the powerful images. In Ladd’s Douglass mural, he used three quotes from the abolitionist.
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men,” one of the three Douglass quotes states. When Ladd initially picked the quote, he thought it was about children’s education and raising children for their future. But after reciting the quote multiple times, its true meaning finally clicked, calling the quote a form of “poetry.”
Only knowing one way of life, many freed slaves, who were “broken,” had no idea how to function in society, Ladd said. Ladd heavily related to the quote as he was going through a personal crisis while painting the murals.
London Ladd’s murals depicting Martin Luther King Jr. and Frederick Douglass are nestled under the railroad bridge on South Salina Street. Ladd incorporated quotes from the civil rights legends to create even more of an impact. Zabdyl Koffa | Staff Photographer
The murals’ location made it the most suitable to honor the neighborhood’s history as the street was a gateway from downtown to the Southside. However, the walls’ condition made it challenging to paint.
Even with offers to restore the murals, Ladd declined, as the walls would be damaged again. The only solution would be to paint the murals in a different location, which they decided against, he said.
“The area is different now,” Ladd said. “And who knows, when they tear the highway down, those people (living in the area) are going to get pushed out like they were when the highway went up. So I don’t even know if it’ll be a predominantly African American neighborhood in the future.”
Despite the present and future challenges, Ladd has no regrets painting the murals. Calling the murals a “savior” in his life, it pushed Ladd out of his shell. Interactions with the community were his favorite part of the process.
Like Ladd, Malfitano is proud of his mural despite setbacks. Up until the mural’s funding, the process for Malfitano’s “Legendary Syracuse Firsts” was smooth sailing.
When the mural’s budget was sent to Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh for his final approval, it was vetoed. Without any direct funding, the mural was backtracked by two years. Despite the setback, Malfitano was able to source the mural’s funding through community and corporate donations.
Russell Mason stands in front of his mural “Strings of Syracuse.” The mural depicts a legendary Syracuse street performer, Elijah Harris Jr., who was killed in a road accident. Zabdyl Koffa | Staff Photographer
After two and a half years of commissioning, funding and designing the mural, the “Legendary Syracuse Firsts” mural was unveiled in 2022. Looking back, Malfitano had no regrets spearheading the mural. Public art is more than a painting on a wall or a gathering of jazz lovers; it’s the “vehicle” to uniting people during a fractured time in society, Malfitano said.
The community engagement of the murals was Ladd’s favorite part of the process. When he first started the murals, a community member asked why the artworks were helpful or necessary following the recent murder of several local children. It took some time, but over the weeks of Ladd’s work on the pieces, people became fans of the art.
Similarly, watching how Ladd’s completed murals lifted the community’s spirits was an unforgettable moment for Coakley. People would drive by and honk their horns and come speak with Ladd, Coakley said. He appreciated how passionate Ladd was about the art and that he knew what Coakley was trying to convey.
When Lakisha saw the completed mural of her father for the first time, it brought her to tears. Seeing it up close in person was nothing like looking at templates, she said.
“The mural is a way of (Harris) getting rewarded for what he’s put into the community,” Lakisha said. “At the time, he didn’t need his voice (to be heard), because he’s already planted all of himself throughout the years that he’s given to Syracuse. He can rest now with the mural up there. His legacy is now secure.”
Despite varying logistics sometimes hindering these public art projects, they’ll always find a way around Syracuse, showcasing Salt City’s everlasting culture and icons, Malfitano said.
“Art projects like this that happen on a large scale, hopefully are doing some good in a time that isn’t really the best,” Malfitano said. “Art is there in perpetuity for everyone to enjoy.”
Video by Zabdyl Koffa | Staff Photographer
Published on October 2, 2025 at 2:25 am