Bushwick is a community in transition. Over the last year an outdoor gallery of street art celebrating the old neighborhood and the new has emerged at the corner of Troutman Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. Dubbed the Bushwick Collective, the gallery, near the Jefferson Street L stop, features blocks of stenciled, spray painted, and wheat-pasted (a way of applying art like wallpaper) public art dedicated to celebrating the culture and history of Bushwick. Many walls, like the one pictured here, feature the work of multiple artists highlighting topics such as nature, music and family.

Joseph Ficalora, 34, pictured here with Rhiannon Platt, from the street art blog Vandalog, is a Bushwick native and the curator and founder of the Bushwick Collective. While he takes great pride in the neighborhood, Ficalora also struggles with a complicated local history. "I loved growing up here, I knew everyone and I still do," he said. "But of course I am also haunted by my memories of Bushwick." In 1991 his father was mugged and murdered on Starr Street. And it was the death of his mother in 2011 that prompted him to start the collective. "They tried to give me pills after my mom passed, I was burnt out and depressed," Ficalora said. "I spent the next year traveling, staying away from here."

On Mother's Day 2012 he returned to Bushwick and decided to throw a block party in celebration of his mother's memory. At the event, a friend painted a piece on one of the outside walls; it became the highlight of the party. Ficalora realized he had discovered something exciting for the neighborhood, as well as a project where he could channel his sadness.

“I am not an artist, I don’t know anything about the art world," Ficalora said. "I googled ‘street art’ and I randomly picked Jim Avignon, Gabriel Specter, Mr. Never Satisfied, Giovanni Rodriguez, Miriam Castillo, and Cost, who, if you know street art, you know they all wound up being big names. So they came and I threw them up. After that I felt so much better. I was born here, I work here, I was with my mother here... this has been a release. They call me the accidental curator.” The Bushwick Collective celebrated its one-year anniversary on Mother's Day.

There are currently 54 artists in the collective, hailing from Brooklyn and New York City, as well as international locations such as Belgium, Rome, France, Australia and Singapore. This spring visiting artists from Cape Town will put up pieces in the area. "Many of the artists are young, but I welcome that," said Ficalora. "They represent all these places around the world and they bring their expertise and talents to Bushwick." The artists are not paid for their work in the collective, and they buy or bring their own supplies. Some spend hours in precarious situations, leaning off of rickety ladders or hanging from windows. "We are happy to do it," said a collective artist who calls himself Nick NDA. "Joe always says that we are like family, and what is more important than that? This is a community." Ficalora's goal is to sign on another 50 artists over the next year.

Artist Andrew Pisacane, known as Gaia, is happy to do some free work for the collective. "This is a spot where we can legally paint," Pisacane, 25, said. "It is hard to find that in New York." Pisacane, like most of the artists, finds inspiration in the neighborhood and tries to mirror that in his work. "My ultimate goal is to respect the place I paint and honor the place, and that is what I am doing with my pieces here. I want the people who live here to love it, to feel connected to it."

Pieces are arranged through legal agreements signed by the artist and the landlord. Contracts cover the subject matter, the size, the amount of time it will take to complete, and how long the piece will remain on display.

Some of the pieces stretch farther than the walls, flowing out onto doors, roofs, water towers, and the sidewalk.

Walls on factories owned by local businesses including the Putnam Rolling Ladder Company and the Excalibur Bronze Foundry are in constant use by artists and feature a rotating lineup of designs.

Ficalora's own company, GCM Steel, also offers up its own walls and roof as a canvas.

The Bushwick Collective has become a welcome element in the neighborhood, sparking more interest in the local arts scene. "I think it is incredible what they are doing," said Erica Gonzalez, 45, a Bushwick resident. "These were abandoned buildings or just ugly walls filled with graffiti and now people are taking the time to come over here and see this free art. It is good for the community and all of the shops around here, and will hopefully spark interest from other artists."

According to the 2010 census the public arts and culture funding for Bushwick averaged $0.45 per person, as compared to $3.43 per person of public funding in all of Brooklyn. This funding, given in the form of grants and sponsorships, covers venues such as museums and public galleries. Only two Bushwick organizations received funding in 2010 out of the 282 that received funding Brooklyn-wide.

These days the Bushwick Collective artists are not the only ones utilizing the walls for art. Recently the Federico Garcia Lorca Murals arrived on the same Bushwick Streets - the last to be painted in summer 2013. The murals are all within a 15-block area, side by side with those painted by collective artists.

Within the last few months the Bushwick Collective has begun to draw tourists. "I had no idea this existed," says Amanda Armstrong, 30, a Tampa native in town to visit a friend. "We were told to check out Williamsburg, and then when we were looking at the street art there someone suggested taking the train here. To be honest I thought it was going to be scary around here, but it is really cool."

By putting their art on public streets and walls for all to see, the Bushwick Collective artists have begun changing the physical landscape of Bushwick. Where once there were gray iron gates and factory walls there are now bright colors and original art.