Artwork > Community Mural Projects > Youth Projects > Afterschool Programs
Diversity Mural, 2007
Somerville Boys and Girls Club
A group of kids at the Somerville Boys and Girls Club worked with local artist Tova Speter to design and paint a thirty-two foot long mural welcoming pedestrians and drivers to Union Square. Celebrating the diversity among themselves, their peers, and their neighbors, the mural highlights a variety of cultures through flags and faces.
Tova partnered with the Union Square Main Streets Design Committee to pursue this project as part of a larger scale artistic revitalization of the square. Local youth engaged in art workshops exploring conceptual brainstorming, theme development research, digital photography, photo-shop techniques, and color theory to help create the mural; and most of the kids had no prior painting experience. They chose vivid colors, smiling faces, and the beauty of the flags of their heritage to brighten the area between McGrath and Union Square for all those who pass by.
In deciding which flags to use, a group of 3 kids were provided with images of flags from every country. They were tasked to circle flags from countries where their families were from or where their friends' families were from. The 3 kids ended up circling flags from 48 countries!! Talk about diversity...
The mural was funded in part by a grant from the Somerville Arts Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council as a project grant, and supported by Mayor Joe Curtatone.
