Granted Wishes and Painted Stars with Lamar Advertising and Make-A-Wish
To commemorate Lamar Advertising’s year-long pro bono partnership with Make-A-Wish, Colossal and its parent company, Lamar, collaborated to create a special mural in Williamsburg. Designed by 12-year old Josie Gibson, an alum of the Make-A-Wish program, the mural debuted at 41 White Street in February 2024 as a Make-A-Wish local landmark.
A native of Queens, Josie was diagnosed with leukemia in April 2021 and received a bone marrow transplant from her brother. Her wish to visit the Orlando theme parks was granted by Make-A-Wish in December 2022. In winter 2023, her love of art and drawing compelled her to create the stunning mural design that captures the essence and attractions of New York City, one of the most requested destinations for wish kids around the world.
“We were honored to champion a fellow New Yorker’s craft and creativity. There’s so much power in combining multiple OOH formats to amplify a message. This impactful mural is the culmination of our year-long partnership with Make-A-Wish and a testament to how collaboration feeds creative and memorable outcomes.”
“Providing a gifted 12-year-old artist the opportunity to showcase her talents on a Colossal hand-painted mural is the perfect way to mark our incredibly successful partnership with Make-A-Wish. We are honored to have been able to use our national Out of Home network over the past year to help the organization fulfill wishes and bring happiness to so many children and their families.”
Colossal had the honor of painting Josie’s inspirational design – as a part of our Start Today social responsibility initiative. The completion of the mural was celebrated with an artist signing ceremony with Josie, her family and her community present!
Make-A-Wish helps children build the physical and emotional strengtah they need to manage and overcome serious and life-threatening illnesses. Since its founding in 1980, the organization has granted more than 375,000 wishes.
“Lamar’s generosity has been instrumental in providing powerful opportunities to spread awareness about our mission and the impact a wish has on children battling critical illnesses. We are so excited to see Josie’s design come to life on a display in Brooklyn. It is truly a fitting way to celebrate this incredible partnership.”
A special thanks to the Colossal team members who worked on this project: Josiah McCloud, Mike Garcia, Nick Birnie, Christophe Michel, Vanessa Kreytak, Jewel Addy, Lara Burns, Katie Danforth, Lumi Jewell, Seiya Jewell, Jason Jarosz, Jon Airis, Nicholas Cummins, Hartwick Hanson, John Samels, Thorsten Roth and all the members of our production team and the Start Today committee.
A sincere thank you to our colleagues and partners at Lamar Advertising, including Vice President of Creative, Mendi Robinson, VP of Marketing Services & Communications, Allie McAlpin, and Social Media and Digital Content Specialist, Morgan Blache.
Heartfelt gratitude to our partners at Make-A-Wish for making this project possible, including Manager of Alumni Relations, Ashley Cruz, Coordinator of Alumni, Grace Sands, Coordinator of Digital and Social Media, Lily Rand, Lead Manager for Brand Campaigns & Marketing Operations, AJ Holding, Head of Enterprise-wide Campaigns & Marketing Strategy, Katie O'Brien, and National Public Relations Manager, Fernanda Horvath.
