This June, residents of the West End Oakland City Apartments will get a new mural on the side of their apartment building. Their children will help paint it. Local artist and muralist, Artist InUs, who is also known as Muhammad Suber, was commissioned by Evolving Arts of America and Chisom Housing Group to paint a two story mural on the facade of the Howell Place SW site of the Oakland City West End Apartments, an affordable housing complex with sites in the Oakland City and West End sections of Atlanta. Additional program collaborators include Friends of Howell Park, Filthy Riché Clothing Co., and West End Neighborhood Development.

Last summer, Al Gill Chenault, M.S.Ed, JD, a West End resident who serves Evolving Arts’ director of community engagement and government affairs in addition to leading the community improvement group, Friends of Howell Park, collaborated with Evolving Arts executive director, Ramel Westry to create “Art in the Park,” a multi-dimensional program crafted to meet the unique needs of the West End neighborhood by introducing children to local artist-mentors, providing healthy food, and reclaiming Howell Park for safe outdoor activities.

Chenault, a self proclaimed “art heaux,” saw that Mr. Westry had done a free art workshop for children in Douglasville, Georgia, and asked him if he could bring the free arts enrichment program to the West End section of Atlanta. Last year, over 30 children from Southwest Atlanta participated in the Art in the Park program in Howell Park. This year, the project has expanded. In addition to providing free outdoor art classes and healthy meals to area youth every Saturday in June, the duo will work with local artist and muralist, Muhammad Suber, to provide a free week-long summer camp for the disadvantaged youth who reside in the apartment complex across the street from the park. “Last summer, we our program was heavily attended by the kids from across the street -- which we expected, but we were amazed at the impact it had on their self esteem, sense of community pride, and the void it filled,” Chenault said. “And we were humbled when the children asked if they could take the snacks home for their siblings.”

This year, instead of just providing healthy snacks, camp participants will receive healthy meals, courtesy of Chisom Housing Group, Inc. People living in both Oakland City and the West End neighborhoods experience higher rates of crimes and poverty and lower rates of high school completion and access to healthy food compared to their peers living in other parts of Atlanta. “Chisom recognizes that to ensure the sustained wellbeing and success of our residents, we must understand the impact of their environment and play an active role in revitalizing their greater neighborhoods,” explained Sarah Bagley, executive director of Chisom Housing Group.

The mural is anticipated to have a lasting positive impact on the children in the housing complex by improving the city scape, empowering youth to take ownership of their community through artwork and encouraging the youth to feel a vested interest in safeguarding their surrounding outdoor area.

Art in the Park

When: June 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, & 30th, 2018, 11am-2pm

Who: Open to school aged children who reside in SW Atlanta.

Where: Howell Park, 983 Ralph David Abernathy, Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30310
Art in the Park Summer Camp & Howell Place Mural Art Project

When: Runs from June 25-30, 2018, 10am-3pm

Who: Local youth from the Oakland City West End Apartments, an affordable housing complex, to create a two-story mural

Where: Oakland City West End Apartments, 979 Howell Place SW, Atlanta, GA 30310

Mural Exhibition Reception

When: July, 14th 2018; 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

Who: Free and open to the public.

Where: Oakland City West End Apartments, 979 Howell Place SW, Atlanta, GA 30310