Mitchel Community Center: Memories at Mitchel

Thrive artists teamed up with Mitchel Community Center in the Bronx during their 2022 summer program to design a yard mural. We weaved together several themes for the mural’s design, including Ancient Egypt, the center’s values (kindness, respect, equity, being a “bully-free zone”) and students’ favorite memories of growing up and attending the center. During our theme-exploration sessions, students brainstormed ideas about how they wanted to represent themselves and their community at Mitchel. We began sharing ideas and having discussions about their passions, hobbies, and interests, some of their favorite experiences at Mitchel (some students had been attending the center since they were as young as 4 or 5 years old), and who some of their role models were.

The students we worked with had a lot to share about their time at the Mitchel Community Center. Many students shared that they were inspired by their teachers at Mitchel, who taught them “life lessons,” responsibility, and ideas about freedom and agency. Some students said they admired their friends, who showed them kindness and patience, cheering them up when they had a tough day. Other students shared that they were passionate about sports (especially basketball), while others wanted to become world famous gymnasts, chefs, photographers, stormchasers, and individuals who make the world a better place. One student said that what they valued most about their time at Mitchel was the opportunity to form bonds and connections with others. Another student said they wanted the mural to depict “a golden moment,” like the time they received a compliment on a new haircut, which made them feel good.

Students also shared some of their favorite memories, which included having a pizza party and backpack giveaway, going to the arcade, pool, and zoo, and playing in the yard with their friends. As we were developing the mural design, we also created a bulletin board that displayed student artwork: polaroid paintings, self portraits, and depictions of a memory that they enjoyed or would like to create one day. Many of these ideas were woven into the final mural design, which also accommodates the community center’s plans to install a garden space below the mural.

We hope that the addition of the mural to their yard space, as well as the journey of designing it together, will create a warm, comforting, and inspired environment for our students and their garden to continue to grow.