2011 Athmar Park Branch Library Mural Project

About the Project | Comments from Kids and Teens | Project Photos

About the Project

During the summer of 2009 a group of youth participated in making a mural for the Athmar Park Branch. To this day this project has been well-respected by the community. More to the point, that area of the Library has not been vandalized since the mural went up, whereas before the mural it was vandalized with some regularity.

In 2011, the youth at the Athmar Park Branch Library who participated in the After School is Cool (ASIC) program observed that the tool shed at the library was frequently vandalized, and therefore planned to paint a mural on this shed to discourage future vandalism. The youth, who lead both the design and painting, made a mural that ties into the community theme of the earlier mural. Participants in the project were ages 8-17.

We worked with professional mural artists from an organization called Your Name In Graffiti, who instruct youth on the difference between positive graffiti art and graffiti vandalism. The mural was completed during the first week of May 2011, wrapping up the After School is Cool 2010-2011 session.

Please visit the Athmar Park Branch to see the mural or check out the project photos.

Comments from Kids and Teens Involved in the Project

"I wanted to be a part of the mural project to help improve the community. Also by doing the project, I got to meet new people, and make new friends in my neighborhood. I think it was a meaningful experience where we could learn about the positives and negatives of graffiti; tagging versus art."
~Amanda VonRuden, age 14

"I wanted to do the mural because this is my first mural I have ever done and I think it would be cool and it turned out beautiful and interesting."
~Monica Tran, age 10

"I Wanted To Do This Mural Because I Love ASIC And Everything We Do There Is Very Fun And Educational! The Mural Was My Very First Mural And After That I Hope That There Are Many More Mural Projects To Come. Everyone That I Worked With Was Very Friendly And Had Awesome Personalities! Not Only Did We Prevent Tagging We Also Learned How To Spray Paint, We Helped Beautify Our Community, And Made A Bunch Of New Friends:)"
~Teresa Tran, age 12

Project Documentary:

Project Photos:

Can't see the photos? Check it out on our Flickr page!

Photos by the Athmar After School is Cool kids and teens!