Nuestros Murales Unidos

Attendance at cultural events

Attendance at public/open streets gatherings

Rates of volunteerism

Advocate for policy

Digital organizing or activism

Trainings and/or in-person engagements

Increase participation in political processes

Connect Angelenos with impactful volunteer opportunities

Nuestros Murales Unidos will paint five neighborhoods in Central Los Angeles with public art, fostering connection through a collective process and depictions of community pride in public space. We will work in Pico-Union and Westlake, bringing the community together to choose five areas to turn into a “museum mile,” each featuring 2-4 murals. YPI’s Community Engagement Coordinator will work closely with local artists, including YPI’s partner Juan Reyes, to activate residents and work together towards designs that showcase community identity and resilience. We will distribute a community feedback form through local schools, YPI afterschool programs, and door-to-door canvassing to get widespread input. Reyes will use this input to make an initial design, which will be available for public review. Parents who are active on YPI’s Safe Routes to School Task Forces will be engaged to give input and activate their friends and family to participate in the mural process. Once a design is finalized, volunteers will work with Reyes at a community event to prepare the wall and paint the mural. The Museum Miles will activate community members at every stage of the process, offering volunteer opportunities and culminating in a large community cultural event in a public space.

Nuestros Murales Unidos will also create a summer program for local students to participate in beautification. The program will be run by the Community Engagement Coordinator and held each weekday for an hour. Students will work with local businesses to talk about the appearance of their storefront, offering to repaint shabby exterior walls with simple designs or place decorated potted plants outside. The summer program will activate the next generation of community leaders, empowering students with a sense of responsibility to their community and the tools to take action. Parents and community members will be encouraged to help with designing and creating these smaller works.

Throughout the process, we will work with community members and partner organizations to kick off a social media campaign using the artworks as a focal point for community pride. #MuralesUnidos and #OurMurals will give this project a unified online presence, and carry connections created through the design process online. Angelenos across the city will be connected to the art through Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and encouraged to start similar projects in their own communities. By offering meaningful volunteer opportunities and cultural events in community spaces, YPI hopes to provide resources for these communities to come together and create something that truly represents them. The collaborative murals will serve as a visual representation of the community’s pride and resilience, as well as the power of collective action. These works—chosen, designed, and painted by locals—will reclaim streets as a collaborative public space, a canvas for public engagement led by a new generation of community leaders.

Nuestros Murales Unidos will create a clear path of engagement, moving from social media interaction to campaigning for change at neighborhood council meetings. The first step will be activating people online, targeting Angelenos countywide to like or share social media posts about the art. The project will activate the local community to post original content about the artworks, including pictures and descriptions of how the art represents them. #MuralesUnidos and #OurMurals will unite content in an online community, and all promotional materials will use the hashtag.

The summer program will activate students, administrators, and local business owners, creating partnerships for neighborhood beautification. Business owners will be key stakeholders, and encouraged to engage in other aspects of the project.

Local residents will be activated to participate in designing and painting the murals. Bilingual forms will be sent out to students and families, and staff will canvas to widen the project’s reach. This process will emphasize community ownership of the project, and lead to large volunteer turnout at mural creation events.

In each neighborhood, we will encourage those who are most passionate to join together in a Task Force that will canvas for community input, rally friends and family to attend events, and campaign for any needed City approval. The Task Force will receive capacity-building training to attend neighborhood council meetings and lead the charge for change.

Activation will be tracked at each level of engagement to reach the goal of involving 100,000 Angelenos. Social media impressions for posts by YPI, as well as all related content with #MuralesUnidos and #OurMurals will be tracked weekly, and compiled into Excel sheets that will be analyzed quarterly to determine progress.

YPI will track the number of completed community feedback surveys, flyers given to students and families, and community members volunteering at mural events. These numbers will be analyzed in quarterly STAT Reports that track progress towards annual outcomes. Nuestros Murales Unidos will aim to reach 100 community members through canvassing, give flyers to 400 students, and engage 100 volunteers in each area.

Additionally, YPI will track the number of student participants in Nuestros Murales Unidos summer program through enrollment forms, with a goal of enrolling 100 students over two years. Students will activate business owners, whose activation will be tracked by the Community Engagement Coordinator. The Community Engagement Coordinator will also be responsible for tracking the number of community members activated in each Task Force, with a goal of 20 community members in total.

Successful activation will be defined by a community-driven process and murals made by and for local residents. Our vision of success also includes a widespread social media campaign that will activate Angelenos across the county to reach the goal of engaging 100,000 people.