How Art Creates a Home

The town of Haverstraw is becoming more beautiful by the day, thanks in part to Haverstraw Riverwide Arts. This non-profit focuses on the development of culture and community arts in the town of Haverstraw. After receiving $200,000 from the Downtown Restoration Project in 2022 they are well on their way to enhancing the charm of Haverstraw one wall at a time. 

When seeking artists to create these pieces of public art, Doris Laughton-Smith, a volunteer on the Board of Haverstraw Riverwide Arts, stated that they received applications from all corners of the U.S.. With over 280 applications, the six person board had their work cut out, or perhaps, painted out for them.

After much deliberation and receiving approvals from the Mayor and New York State the team selected Turkish muralist Sıtkı Doğan. Doğan is known for his immersive pieces utilizing thought provoking motifs and 3D arts in public spaces, elements that blend perfectly with the cultural melting pot of Haverstraw. Laughton-Smith guided the RCT on a tour of Doğan’s two new murals lighting up Haverstraw.

The first of Doğan’s murals was composed of soaring eagles, sleek herons and sharp-eyed hawks, all animals native to the area. Interspersed between the creatures were snapshots of the Hudson River cradled between brick frames. The angles of the famous river at Broad Street and 40 Broadway served as a fresh perspective to remind viewers of the beauty of our oft-seen region. “When you live in a community for so long, you don’t remember the beauty of your community. Artists put parentheses around something in nature or in life and they make you really look at it,” said Laughton-Smith. 

Laughton-Smith stated that from the moment Doğan began there was a response from the community. “This crowd of guys over here watched every day,” she said, waving at a group of men who sat across from our first mural. “The traffic was stopping while he was [painting]. People were applauding him… The community was so happy to have it. 

The second mural was a sight to behold. On the side of a two story building at 38 Clinton Street and African American Memorial Park, an androgynous Black angel melts chains in their hands as the Pan-African and American flags melt down their face. 

This mural, titled Freedom Colors, reveals itself to viewers slowly. At first viewers are struck with the sheer size and the mesmerizing effects of the angel’s expression. The longer one looks at the mural, however, the more details that emerge. There’s a piano signifying the jazz community prevalent in Haverstraw’s heyday, a brick found in Haverstraw from Rockland’s first Black worship house, the CRX train that runs along the Hudson – the more you look, the more you find. It’s not just pedestrians playing iSpy – “All the boats, everybody on the water sees this mural,” said Laughton-Smith. 

As a society, we tend to associate art with class, with beauty, or with something worthwhile. These two murals have endowed a previously unused space with inherent respect, which in turn has created a ripple effect in communities. Art makes spaces beautiful, beautiful spaces make people proud, proud people work hard to keep their spaces beautiful. The ripple effect becomes a circle and the relationship becomes a symbiotic one.

For visitors these two murals work together to tell the story of Haverstraw without a single word being uttered. Doğan’s art captures the hearts of visitors who may not be interested or able to read an informational stand, instead creating equal opportunities for learning and connection.

Doğan’s work is now receiving national acclaim. In 2025, Doğan took bronze for Freedom Colors in the 2025 National Mural Awards.