The Oak Street-facing side of 445 Martin Luther King Dr. in Jersey City, a three-story

structure with a barber shop on the ground floor and apartments above, was until recently just a brick wall overlooking an empty lot.

Over the course of two days last week, Miami artist David Lavernia added splashes of color and a portrait of civil-rights leader Nelson Mandela to create one of dozens of murals Jersey City hopes to commission citywide in the next year.

So far, three are complete, including a blue-hued image of a Native American woman on the side of an apartment building at Summit Avenue and Grand Street courtesy of artists Shawn "Pawn" Edwards and Emilio Florentine.

City officials call the effort both a city beautification effort as well as a cultural education campaign. Mayor Steve Fulop said he wants to turn the entire city into an "outdoor art gallery."

For Lavernia, 27, who works under the name DaveL, the murals – he painted another one on Tsigonia Lumber at Communipaw and Garfield avenues – were a chance for the globetrotter to experience Jersey City.

“Jersey City is one of my new favorite places, and I’ve been all over the country,” he told The Jersey Journal. “It was a very positive week. I have a huge smile on my face.”

Lavernia said he submitted his portfolio to city officials who were seeking artists to contribute to the mural project. He said he met personally with Mayor Steve Fulop, who was a fan of his Mandela portrait, so he recreated it on Martin Luther King Drive, calling it “The Power of Forgiveness.”

The three-story tall painting was the biggest assignment Lavernia has ever had. It required him to get inside a Department of Public Works cherry picker.

“It was a little scary,” he said.

The city is picking up the cost of the paints and supplies, but city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill couldn't specify how much each mural is expected to cost. Lavernia said he used about 30 cans of spray paint at $6 a can for his Mandela mural.

Philadelphia has a famed mural program, the city's largest public art project, that has led to the creation of over 3,600 murals. Tourists in San Francisco take walking tours to view 1,000-plus murals in the city's Mission district and beyond.

Jersey City's murals have received mixed reviews from residents. One woman who saw The Jersey Journal snapping photos of the Mandela mural said she wants more police in the area, not artwork. Dennis Settle, 64, said he fears it will encourage graffiti artists.

But Henry Sumter, 54, of Bramhall Avenue, said the Martin Luther King Drive mural may spur kids to learn about Mandela.

“Maybe they’ll ask questions,” Sumter said.

Mark Carroll, 62, of Summit Avenue, thinks the murals can spruce up communities. The northern side of his apartment building is the home of the mural by Edwards and Florentine.

“It’s a billboard for our neighborhood,” Carroll said. “Only a couple of years ago, this was a dirt street. It was Mayberry. Now it’s Jersey City.”

Any property owner interested in having a mural on their building, or artist seeking to paint a mural, should contact Brooke Hansson at the mayor’s office, bhansson@jcnj.org.