Kingston, Ulster County

This touching midtown mural honors four friends that tragically died in a 2015 car accident in nearby Saugerties. According to newspaper reports, “Meredith McSpirit, the 19-year-old driver of the car, was the only survivor of the crash, in which the vehicle she was driving went down a 110-foot embankment, hit a house and landed on its roof on Dock Street in the village of Saugerties.” (Pineiro-Zucker, Diane. Daily Freeman. www.dailyfreeman.com. August 27, 2015).

Clockwise from the top are Adam (Jeff) McQueen (1993-2015), Kaireem Meeks Jr. (age 24), Dante Crump (1993-2015) and Jonte Clark (1989-2015). Jalani Crooks, artist and Kingston native, painted the mural in honor of his high school friends during the 2015 and 6th annual O+ Festival.

The O+ festival in Kingston is a 3-day event where artists and musicians exchange their participation for basic health care, dental and wellness services. Billed as “The Art of Medicine for the Medicine of Art”, the growing Kingston event features many forms of art media including paint, sculpture, dance, performance art and music. The first Kingston O+ festival took place in 2010. The most visible aspect of the festival is the large scale murals seen throughout the city.