Under the midday Saturday sun, community attendees filled in the geometric mosaic of figures with pink, orange, teal and green paint on a blank exterior wall of YWCA Evanston/North Shore.
The mural event is a culmination of a more than six-month partnership between the YWCA location and Project Color Corps, a non-profit that brings color in the form of murals and art to communities.
YWCA offers services for domestic violence survivors, including shelter and long-term housing, counseling services and programs for kids who have experienced domestic violence as well as a violence prevention program and economic advancement workshops and classes.
Gary Zowada, a client development executive at MillerKnoll, a design company that works with Project Color Corps to design and bring the murals to life, volunteered at the event. He said that many of their projects — including the YWCA mural — help bring awareness to the purpose of the buildings they’re on.
The mural depicts the letters YWCA between various geometric female figures, fused with half circles and interjambs resembling puzzle pieces.
Zowada said the mural was a reflection of what YWCA stands for.
“If you look at the imagery of the mural itself, the women you capture, the style, not only the face, but the hairstyles, the body, it’s inclusive,” he said.
In May, YWCA hosted a color seminar with Project Color Corps to hear input from community members about what color means to them. In early September, more than 200 community members voted between two color palettes. The winner, titled “Buoyant Strong,” had seven colors, including magenta and teal and won with 67% of the vote.
“It brings light to not only the building, but the work. The orange, the blues, the pinks, they’re colors that inspire you,” YWCA Evanston/North Shore President and CEO Cherese Ledet said.
The event drew around 30 community attendees and volunteers connected to the hosting organizations to paint the previously blank grey wall.
Volunteer Janine Aurichio said she was drawn to the design and color palette because of the feelings it evokes and its relation to the mission of YWCA.
“The soft lines of all the women in the mural have a nurturing, feminine feel to me,” she said.
Volunteer Cheryl Ledet-Annani, Ledet’s mother, said as a young woman who experienced domestic abuse, she might have asked for help if she knew about an organization like YWCA.
The organization’s survivor services include counseling, referrals to affordable housing programs and assistance with applications, financial coaching, employment counseling and a 24 hour crisis line.
“Years ago, I wondered if there was a place like this,” Ledet-Annani said. “You don’t realize how many women in your presence experience abuse.”
Erin Venable, the YWCA’s vice president of marketing, said she is curious to see how the mural will be received. She added that she hopes it makes people ask more questions about the services the organization offers around women’s empowerment.
She hopes it allows people to feel at ease when they come to YWCA, she said.
“Somebody, for their first time arriving at the building, now will see this vibrant, colorful artwork that makes you stop and think,” Venable said. “It evokes strength, but is also warm and welcoming.”
Email: tiabethke2028@u.northwestern.edu
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