Mural Part One

As members of The 1104 Studio we have been working hard on a mural about Mother Clara Hale, an African-American humanitarian who fostered and helped over 1,000 children that were affected by the AIDS and crack epidemic in Harlem. Above is the beginning part of our mural describing what Harlem must have felt like during the onset of the epidemic in the 1980s. Wild, cold, overwhelming and dark.

Unfortunately the biggest victims of this epidemic were the children and unborn babies of the addicted parents and families. Many children were orphaned or born addicted to drugs themselves. In 1984, AIDS struck Harlem, marking the city with the highest rate of pediatric AIDS in the nation. These babies were often abandoned at Harlem Hospital because foster parents were afraid of catching the virus and/or their birth parents had died from the disease. These babies became known as "border babies."
- The 1104 Studio