As a part of Consult Lela’s Activating the Square event in Mattapan on March 25, 2023, I led an art activity with the Youth Engagement Committee. I created an activity to encourage participants to share changes they would like to see as part of the Blue Hill Avenue Transportation Action Plan. I created a coloring sheet of an empty parcel on Blue Hill Ave and asked residents to draw, paint and collage their suggestions onto the page with the goal to ultimately incorporate the artwork into a poster. The poster is inspired by the concept of a blueprint, with hands of different ages and backgrounds collaborating on the plan and a child in a hard hat and utility vest, as the protagonist, holding a level, learning early that he has the power to shape the future of the neighborhood that he calls home.
Participants painted small wooden buses that represented better bus infrastructure, bikes to represent bike infrastructure, flowers, people, trees and more. I was able to tally 7 people, 5 buses, 7 bikes, 7 trees, 2 flowers, 1 playground, 1 bike crossing signal, 1 third place and a sunset, so I made sure each element was represented. Four suggestions from residents in particular became the centerpieces of this illustration: A building called a “3rd Place”, a crossing signal for bike riders, a playground in Mattapan Square and a sunset painted by a kid.
The poster is inspired by the concept of a blueprint, with hands of different ages and backgrounds collaborating on the plan and a child in a hard hat and utility vest, as the protagonist, holding a level, learning early that he has the power to shape the future of the neighborhood that he calls home.
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