INTRODUCTION 

American cities are struggling with a host of social and economic problems.  The deteriorating urban environment and decaying infrastructure affect almost every community member.  Efforts to improve the public environment and promote cultural pride by community residents continue despite limited economic resources.  One of these efforts, and a valuable educational activity, is to engage urban youth in the art-making process of mural painting.  Empty urban walls are ideal spaces for youth to express their artistic visions and social voices by participating in a community enhancing activity such as creating mural art.  [paragraph 1]

WHAT IS MURAL ART?

A mural is a painting completed on a wall.  The term comes from the Latin word murus, which means "wall."  The creation of an urban mural has a genesis different from other paintings because it is created in public, usually by the public, for the public.  [paragraph 2]

Mural painting as public art often deals with difficult social, political and economic problems in urban neighborhoods.  Murals serve a purpose by expressing issues that are woven into the fabric of society.  The most successful public urban art projects incorporate sensitivity to the community and the artist’s use of location as an integral part of the aesthetic, social and cultural statement.  [paragraph 3]

The mural, an exterior or interior wall painting, involves viewers in a visual dialogue that is determined by the architectural space.  The illusion of a vista is created, and images are often drawn from community issues including the artist’s imagination.  [paragraph 4]

These urban wall murals often express a strong narrative of social awareness using symbolic content.  Murals may function as cosmetic billboards to brighten up neglected neighborhoods.  They can become healing images if they incorporate culturally diverse aspirations and themes.  Some of the themes are a commentary on social issues and problems: i.e. drugs, gangs, housing, world peace, brotherhood, family, ecology, national heroes, social justice, and cultural heritage.  Mural art is created for and by the people of the community and it becomes part of daily life.  [paragraph 5]

Recently a series of eight urban murals, located in Waterbury CT (pop. 107,000) attracted our attention.  These murals were painted by community members during the last 30 years as part of an urban renewal program called PRIDE (Preserving Racial Identity Through the Development of Education).  The murals were painted on five buildings and range in size from 4 ft x 8 ft to 20 ft x 40 ft.  Their content and themes deal with historical events such as African American participation in the US Civil War (1861-65), contemporary issues of drugs, AIDS, teen pregnancy, education, religion, and politics, African-American heritage, and famous Black leaders.  [paragraph 6]

Urban murals provide a vehicle for a symbolic resolution of tension, or compromise, which may have real consequences of enhanced communication, mutual respect, and unity.  Beautification is secondary to meaning.  Urban murals as community art become a form of symbolic action and imply social change.  We consider murals as part of the process of raising community consciousness and building pride as evidenced by those in Waterbury.  [paragraph 7]

Urban murals typically represent a minority and socio-economic class viewpoint in a transitional neighborhood.  The story of urban murals is usually an account of art playing a vital role in ideological, economic, social and racial struggle and change.  Public art is used as a human force for change rather than as a cosmetic decoration.  [paragraph 8]

Mural art is highly visible and collaboratively executed.  The process is as empowering as the product.  Murals are primarily intended for the community that lives with them.  Teams of local artists including community residents and students from neighborhood schools usually paint urban murals.  The community spirit and passionate solidarity can be developed among members of a mural team.  [paragraph 9] 

THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF MURALS

Mural art is in some degree a collective act because community members are the creators as well as the audience.  The involvement of local youth has a positive value. Mural art making is a transformative social activity with educational implications for personal development.  Mural art making provides an opportunity for self-expression and self-definition and it is a way to learn how to assume a leadership role in the community.  Collectively created murals provide a permanent testimony to cultural achievement, which is an important aesthetic experience with equally significant educational by-products.  [paragraph 10]

Murals unlock the creative energy of the youth through themes that reflect their history, cultural and ethnic heritage and experiences.  Creating a collective mural is a process of self-expansion and conquest.  The youth’s image expands to the size of an entire wall.  If nurtured, the social nature of the process allows each young person to grow, to be valued and to define himself or herself as a member of the larger community.  Youth can gain self-respect by learning to respect public space, the art-making process, and each other.  The imaginative activity of the young can be enriched through the mural making process.  [paragraph 11]

CONCLUSION

Mural art is not a search for an audience, but for a public space to display the values of its creators and audience.  A wall mural is one way to extend art in a social context.  Wall paintings make public statements about life as it is, as it was, or as it should be.  Murals are a socially committed, highly visible form of political art.  Mural wall paintings can become a vehicle for public voices and neighborhood self-definition, as they symbolize location and define its character in the eyes of the residents and outsiders.  Murals can serve as local landmarks and as territorial markers.  [paragraph 12]

This commitment to community building through art making is even more important for America’s changing demographics where culturally diverse individuals and groups must live harmoniously together and learn to respect, understand, accept and value their differences.  [paragraph 13]