As I walk around my hometown, downtown Jersey City, I notice so many changes in the surroundings with new establishments and condominiums developing and stores that I’ve always gone to most of my life closing down as a result of gentrification. Gentrification may cause the issue of displacing long-time residents who are predominantly minorities that have been historically disadvantaged. In this case, the Filipino, Latino, and Italian communities were affected by the closing of these old cheaper valued businesses and huge increase of housing costs, overcome with the feeling of losing the sense of the old community we cherished and grew up with. With the idea of spreading awareness to these effects, I’ve created posters containing messages/comments about these changes ideally posted outside closed storefronts and important monuments around the town. The project intends to have a poetic energy in public space that recognizes the fact that we are all interconnected and we need each other’s support.
