Bronx Mural Day Turns Faces into Lasting Gifts: LiveOnNY’s Painted Legacy Brings Donor Stories to Life

A neighborhood gathering that turned grief into color

On a chilly afternoon in the Bronx, neighbors stopped on their way home to watch artists at work. Under tents and strings of lights, dozens of painted portraits were mounted on easels: familiar faces captured from photographs, now reimagined in brushstrokes and bright palettes. The scene felt like a neighborhood block party and a quiet memorial at once.

LiveOnNY, the federally designated organ procurement organization serving New York, hosted what it called its largest Painted Legacy event in the borough. The goal was simple and humane: turn family photos of organ donors into painted tributes that families can hold, display or pass down. For many people who lost a loved one, the portraits offer a visible, personal way to remember a gift that lives on in others.

The event drew families of donors, people waiting for transplants, volunteers and local leaders. Music played softly while volunteers guided visitors to the portraits. People paused, touched the painted faces, and shared a quiet laugh or a tear. For some, seeing a likeness painted by hand made the idea of organ donation feel less abstract and more human.

How photographs become painted keepsakes

Painted Legacy is not a gallery show — it’s a hands-on process that mixes memory work with volunteer labor. Families send in a photograph of their loved one. Volunteer artists, many of them local and some with professional experience, study the image and create a painted version meant to capture the person’s presence rather than produce a perfect likeness.

At the Bronx event, artists worked on-site and ahead of time. Some portraits were finished that day; others were completed before the gathering and unveiled in front of relatives. Volunteers handled the framing, mounting and care of the portraits so families leave with a ready-made tribute.

The symbolic aim is clear: a painted portrait is a physical reminder that a person’s decision to donate organs continued a life elsewhere. Organ donation can feel invisible to the public because the act itself happens in operating rooms and hospitals. A painting brings the donor back into everyday space — on a living room wall, a memorial shelf, or in a photograph album — and makes the legacy visible.

Organizers also say the act of creating art helps families in practical, emotional ways. Turning a photo into a painting gives families an active ritual, a small ceremony of recognition that can help people who are processing loss to feel seen and honored.

Faces and words: family members and organizers respond

“When I saw my sister’s portrait, I felt like I was seeing her smile again,” said Ana Rivera, whose sister’s donation helped two people. “It’s not just a picture. It’s like she’s still with us, doing good.”

Mark Thompson, who received a kidney transplant two years ago, stood beside a painted portrait of the donor and called the scene “a gentle reminder” of the chain of people involved in saving a life. “There’s a human story behind every transplant,” he said. “Seeing the face makes it real.”

Volunteer artist Jasmine Cole described why she gives her time: “I paint to hold space for people. The work is simple — color and line — but it becomes something families carry with them. That feels important.”

LiveOnNY staffers also spoke about the practical value. “These portraits open conversations that facts and figures can’t,” said Ramon Alvarez, an outreach coordinator. “People will stop and ask, and that’s when we can explain how to register and why donor decisions matter.”

Why this matters for organ donation efforts

LiveOnNY is the federally designated organization responsible for recovering organs and coordinating transplants across New York. Outreach events like Painted Legacy are part of a broader effort to humanize organ donation and reach communities that are often underrepresented in registry rolls.

Organ procurement groups say that showing real stories can increase willingness to register and reduce the myths that surround donation. A portrait carries that story into public spaces where people encounter it in everyday life — at a school event, in a community center or on a street corner — and shows that donors are neighbors, siblings, parents and friends.

The portraits also serve advocates inside hospitals and clinics. When clinicians can point to a family that chose donation, it helps explain the choice in personal terms, rather than only medical ones. For an organization working to increase registrations and save more lives, that personal touch complements the standard outreach channels.

Community health and the ripple effects of visibility

Beyond honoring individuals, events like this have public-health value. They reduce stigma by normalizing the conversation about donation, especially in communities that may worry about cultural or religious objections. The public display of compassionate choice can shift local attitudes incrementally.

Local partners — churches, schools, cultural groups and volunteers — often help bring these portraits into places where people gather. That wider visibility is an important step in encouraging thoughtful conversations about end-of-life wishes and the practical act of registering as a donor.

How to take part or offer support

If you want to register as an organ donor, you can do so through your state’s donor registry, typically when you renew a driver’s license or ID, or online through LiveOnNY’s website. You can also volunteer for events like Painted Legacy, donate to local organ-donation nonprofits, or attend outreach gatherings in your community to learn more.

LiveOnNY also lists upcoming events and volunteer opportunities; look for local postings or community bulletin announcements to find gatherings near you. For families who have lost a donor, organizations often have support groups and ways to participate in memorial events if you want to connect with others who have shared similar experiences.

The portraits in the Bronx were small works of art with a large purpose: they made grief visible and turned private loss into a public reminder that one life can help many others. In a busy city, that quiet reminder can be powerful.

Sources

• prnewswire.com