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Arts & Entertainment

New Mural Brightens Multi Service Center Gym

Three local artists collaborated on the sports-themed painting.

Going to the gym at the Multi Service Center just became a more colorful experience.

A brand new, Hoboken-themed mural in the second floor gymnasium was unveiled by a trio of local artists - joined by Mayor Dawn Zimmer -on Monday afternoon.

Local artists Jason Gluskin, Laura Renee and Ricardo Roig used acrylic paint to each cover a third of the approximately 10 by 75 foot wall, filling it with colorful scenes showing football, baseball, soccer, gymnastics and other sports, as well as the Hudson River waterfront.

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“I think it's fantastic,” Zimmer said. “It really adds to the gymnasium.”

Director of Health and Human Services Leo Pellegrini commissioned the mural as part of a comprehensive renovation of the gym that began last fall. The project also installed new wall padding, decorative banners and a new scoreboard.

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“We wanted to renovate the gym and give it a sense of community,” Pellegrini said.

Pellegrini sought the input of Cultural Affairs Director Geri Fallo, who contacted the artists. Fallo had previously commissioned Gluskin and Renee to paint a mural inside the pediatrics ward of the Hoboken University Medical Center.

“They did such a great job that I thought they could do it again,” Fallo said.

Gluskin and Renee spent a month working together on the conjoined center panel, which features in large lettering the words “Hoboken Rec Center.”

“It was a great collaboration,” Renee said. “It's definitely a cool project because so many eyes see it.”

“We just wanted to keep it fun for the kids,” Gluskin added.

While Gluskin and Renee handled the center, Roig painted the left and right wings.

“It's so free and open," he said, "you feel like you can go into it."

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