MONTPELIER — Registration is now open for communities to join the Vermont Mural Project. The Community Engagement Lab, Juniper Creative Arts and the Vermont Folklife Center are partners on the statewide project, which features a collaborative mural-making process to guide communities to build vision statements and action plans that address the social and environmental justice issues they care about.
The project will bring together community teams of young people, educators and community members to work alongside teaching artists, muralists and local social and environmental justice partners to amplify youth voices, strengthen civic agency, and create a visual story of their collective hopes and dreams for a more equitable and resilient Vermont.
“We are excited to be collaborating with the Vermont Folklife Center and the inspiring mural team at Juniper Creative Arts to bring the Vermont Mural Project to life,” said Jenn Wood, Managing Director at the Community Engagement Lab. “Community mural-making has a long, successful history of bringing people together in a creative process that builds trust and mutual respect for one another.” 
“The Community Mural Movement was started and led by Chicago artist William Walker in the 1960s. It served as a way for the community to express its values and share collective ownership of public art,” said Will Kasso Condry of Juniper Creative Arts.
“Murals have the power and potential to inspire dialogue, expand thought, raise the consciousness of those who experience them directly, and create a sense of place and belonging,” said Jennifer Herrera Condry of Juniper Creative Arts.
The Vermont Mural Project is seeking to have at least one mural created in each of the fourteen Vermont counties. All of the murals will be temporarily displayed in Montpelier at the One World Festival of Arts & Imagination, in September 2021, presenting a collaborative creative statement of what communities from all corners of the state want for their future. Following the festival, each mural returns to its community for permanent installation.
For more information about how to participate in the Vermont Mural Project, visit CommunityEngagementLab.org.