Meet The UCA Muralists: Rudjessy Secours, Richie Rich
Rudjessy and her father at the BAC awards ceremony, where Uncover Church Avenue was honored.
As the youngest artist to have a mural chosen for the Uncover Church Avenue project, Rudjessy Secours may also be the most surprised to have been picked. A junior at the High School for Service & Learning at Erasmus, Rudjessy’s teacher told her about the contest, and suggested she submit something.
“I really didn’t think I would win,” she said. “I just did it for fun.”
Rudjessy has been interested in art since she was younger, when her fifth grade teacher gave the students challenges during art class.
“I always understood them,” she explained. “And my skills improved as my teacher encouraged me to keep trying.”
Now she mostly enjoys working on anime and manga characters, though she had a breakthrough once when she worked on a piece that was more realistic.
“When I did my self-portrait, everyone said it looked like me,” Rudjessy said.
Aside from occasionally drawing in her free time, Rudjessy isn’t putting too much emphasis on art at the moment. She’s focused on studying for the SATs, and figuring out which colleges, including Columbia and Stony Brook, she’ll be applying to in the fall. Because even though she’s clearly got an artistic side, Rudjessy is more of a science enthusiast, and she’s hoping to pursue a career in biomedical engineering.
“I really like science and math,” she said. “It’s similar to art in a way. You have to be very observant for both.”
She used those keen observation skills while designing the mural that will be installed on the roll-down gate at Richie Rich, 1219 Church Avenue, a Caribbean restaurant that’s looked ready to open for quite some time. When she read the description of the place, she says made her think of a beach right away.
“I asked my friends who came from the Carribean for some ideas, and they told me to draw palm trees,” she said. “I haven’t been, but my parents are from there, so I got more ideas from their pictures.”
Needless to say, Rudjessy is very excited to have this mural on her resume, and she’s looking forward to seeing the larger-than-life art when it’s finished.
“I’m really honored,” she said. “I’ve never done something so big like this. It’s the best.”
All this week we introduced you to the artists behind the Church Avenue Business Improvement District’s Uncover Church Avenue murals, which will be painted this spring on roll-down gates along Church between Stratford and Argyle Roads. They’re going to need volunteers to help prep the gates for painting—we’ll let you know when, but if you’d like to sign up, contact Melissa Skolnick, Program Coordinator at the BID at 718-282-2500 ext 63237 or MelissaSk@churchavenue.org.
