Groundswell partnered with SCO Family of Services and PS 41 to complete three murals for the school to generate one large project. Each section focused on either respect, responsibility, or reason. The keywords brought the overall focus to the initiative of how youth come together in harmony and community as respectful leaders in their community. In “Reason,” the final of the three projects, three panels display instances when students are making decisions. The word ‘reason’ was defined by the group as the ability to make wise, fair and just decisions. The first panel shows two youth participants from the program facing opposite directions emphasizing that each of us has a right to choose which path we walk in life. The second panel shows three youth, two in fighting stance, and one youth in the middle attempting to stop and resolve conflict. This image stems from the youth’s feelings on the importance of being a peacemaker. African fabric was used as a background and surrounds all three scenes.
