This story was originally published by The Telegraph.
A short-term homeless shelter in Macon received a new mural last week, installed by five students and a local artist.
Macon-Bibb County officials unveiled the artwork that is now on the walls of Hello House at the Brookdale Resource Center, highlighting the initiative’s goals of providing students with creative opportunities and encouraging them to contribute positively to the community.
The mural reads, “Stay strong,” outlined in purple and blue, followed by a peace sign hand gesture.
“Even if you’re in a dark place, hopefully the peace sign makes you feel better,” Jordan Butts, 8th grader at Weaver Middle School, said in a Macon-Bibb County news release.
The middle school students worked with Erin Hawkins, Macon-based artist and founder of Mama Hawk Draws, for six weeks to do the mural. The initiative was done through Men About Change, an organization under the Macon Violence Prevention program.
Hawkins said her goal for the mural project was to teach the students about technical steps of mural-making, such as brainstorming, sketching, talking to clients at the homeless shelter to determine which designs they wanted, and final execution of the art.
Hawkins said it was also to show “how art can transform a space and leave a lasting impact on our community.”
Credit: Macon+Bibb County/Facebook
Credit: Macon+Bibb County/Facebook
Alison Bender, executive director of the Brookdale Resource Center, said the unveiling event signified the “beautification” of the Hello House, which opened in February 2023 and serves as an overnight shelter.
“We couldn’t beautify this space, which you can see is a gymnasium, without the MVP grant,” Bender said after thanking all the organizations involved in the collaboration. “This has been a win-win for everyone involved.”
The mural installations were funded with a $10,000 MVP grant from Macon-Bibb County through the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, according to county officials.
Jeremy Grissom, MVP coordinator, said the mural helped the students serve the community and obtain a sense of ownership that’ll last forever through their artwork.
Hawkins worked with the students after school and even during fall break in November to keep them off the streets and demonstrate safer alternatives to spend their time, she said in a press release.
Macon Mayor Lester Miller, who also attended the event, said he was impressed by the students for taking the initiative to engage in the program themselves.
“When most people think about crime prevention, they don’t think about the things we do outside of the box—whether it be mentorship, music or arts—the things you typically don’t think about occupying our youth’s minds, so they do some more productive things as opposed to (troublesome) things they can get into,” Miller said.
Credit: The Telegraph
Credit: The Telegraph
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