About CITYarts

Founded in 1989. Still run by the person who started it.

CITYarts pairs young people with professional artists to make public art that stays in the neighbourhood that made it.

Our mission

Youth and professional artists, making public art with real ownership.

When kids create art, they create meaning — and a place for themselves in the world. CITYarts gives youth ownership of public art made with professional artists, turning creative expression into lasting dialogue within communities and across them.

The founder

Tsipi Ben-Haim

When kids create, they don't destroy — they inspire us all.

Through hands-on art projects, we empower youth to collaborate with artists who turn their visions into reality — giving them a seat at the table and a voice in their communities.

CITYarts' archives are held by the New-York Historical Society. Tsipi is an honorary member of Delta Kappa Gamma and a contributor to the Global Partnerships Forum's book on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Leadership & board

Leadership and board

REPLACE — board roster. CITYarts' own grant materials name a nine-member board, but only four of the nine are named in any document available here, and putting real people on a donor-facing page is not a call to make from a grant PDF. Sima or CITYarts supplies this.

Advisors

Board of Advisors

REPLACE — advisors roster. CITYarts' internal plan records a fifteen-member Board of Advisors; not one of the fifteen is named in any document available here.

Sponsors and partners

Sponsors and partners

REPLACE — sponsor and partner list. Named institutional funders exist in CITYarts' grant materials, but a supporter list is CITYarts' to publish, not ours to assemble from a grant PDF.

Financials

Where the money goes

REPLACE — financial summary. No financial figure ships until CITYarts' Executive Director provides the current-year operating budget. This section exists so the slot is ready; it is deliberately empty and CI blocks production while it is.

Timeline

A short history

  1. 1989CITYarts is founded in New York by Tsipi Ben-Haim, who still leads it.
  2. 2005The first Peace Wall: a 213-foot mosaic at Jacob H. Schiff Park in Harlem, made with young people and community leaders alongside illustrator and MacArthur Fellow Peter Sís.
  3. 2019The Harlem Peace Wall is fully restored.
  4. 2022Two more Peace Walls are completed in Europe.
  5. 2026The Minnesota Peace Wall nears completion and a Peace Wall for Washington DC enters planning.

Upcoming projects

What is being built next

Washington DC Peace Wall

In planning · Washington, DC · End of September 2026

The crowning piece of 50 States of Peace, tied to the United States' 250th anniversary: the visual voices of 250 young people, five from every state, on printed tiles beside quotes from leaders and changemakers. Locations are being scouted now.

Minnesota Peace Wall

In progress · Minnesota · October 2026

Two artists are at work and the maquette is complete. The nearest of the walls to finishing, and the next one to open.

SoHo Artists History Walk

Partly complete · SoHo, Manhattan · Book: 30 September 2026

A gallery exhibition, an art book, a walking map and a mural titled The Way We Were. The online exhibition is already finished; a wall for the mural is still being sought.

CITYarts Urban Stories Book

In planning · New York and beyond · October 2026 – October 2027

A book of the communities transformed by young people working alongside professional artists — designed, printed and sold, with the proceeds returning to the projects.

Give to CITYarts
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