"We also wanted to make this as a tribute to the city of Bridgeport."
Tomek Moczerniuk
Last year, Polish community members in Bridgeport came togetherto name a street corner after Pope John Paul II, who was canonized in 2014. This year, he's being honored with a mural.
From the corner of Kossuth and Pulaski streets in Bridgeport, you can see an elementary school, a Polish church, and a towing company. There’s old furniture and cars behind rusty chain link fences; trash, graffiti, and an occasional passing train.
Tomek Moczerniuk stands near a bright blue sign that says “St. John Paul II Corner.” The 41-year-old was part of the community effort to name the space.
"To be honest with you, I felt that this place is missing something," Moczerniuk said. He thought that the designation would draw more people to the neighborhood, but a year later it hasn’t. "So the natural thing was to think of something else -- something more than just a street naming."
Moczerniuk had the opportunity to meet the Polish pope in 2004. As part ofPoland's version of Make-A Wish Foundation, he accompanied a 15-year-old boy with cancer to the Vatican. "The particular moment, it changed me. It changed my heart," he remembered.
John Paul II was the first non-Italian pope in more than 400 years, celebrated by the Polish community during and after his tenure -- 1978 to his death in 2005. He is credited with helping to end communism.
"So we wanted to do a tribute to John Paul II, and to the Polish Catholic community," Moczerniuk said. "But we also wanted to make this as a tribute to the city of Bridgeport."
The graphic designer was born in Poland, and moved to New Jersey when he was 20. Now he lives in Fairfield with his wife and kids. He visits this Bridgeport neighborhood every weekend, though, to go to Saint Michael the Archangel Catholic Church. His kids attend the Polish school on Saturdays, and his wife works in the city as a pediatrician.
So this year, Moczerniuk had a new idea: a mural.
Moczerniuk rallied community support, and then called his cousin, Rafal Pisarczyk. The 34-year-old artist recently helped paint a Brooklyn mural commemorating the Warsaw Uprising.
On an overcast April day, Pisarczyk gestured to the nearly-complete mural showing John Paul II with his papal cross in front of a mountain range.
"That's actually theTatraMountains in Poland,which he really loved," Pisarczyk said. "Every time he got a chance to come home to Poland, he would go there to meditate, relax, and reflect. This project is a painting of a spiritual person who’s been a huge figure in my culture, my heritage."
Moczerniuk said the Polish community wasn't immediately sold on the gritty location for the mural, but he's sure the former pope would have approved.
"We could paint the most beautiful thing somewhere safe, where beautiful people are going to be driving by in beautiful cars, but that's not what it’s all about. The pope was always known for unifying," Moczerniuk said.
In addition to some community support, Moczerniuk started a crowdfunding site to help pay for the wall and the artist.
"Two guys from Poland came with the idea and did this for the city of Bridgeport," Moczerniuk said. "Hopefully, a lot of good things are going to come out of it, and not only us are going to proud of it, but also John Paul II," he said, as he pointed to the mural.
The unveiling of the completed artwork will be Sunday April 26 at 10:45 am.
