Overview
At the facility grand opening residents spoke of the significance of the art to the neighborhood. Gabrielle Butler, who spent her childhood going to church and having her hair done on the east side, watched as other areas of the city grew while that neighborhood was left behind. She eventually moved away and said, “being able to now share art with her children that depicts people like them, made high and regal, is important. There was nothing like this when I was growing up.” she said,  “Its going to be transformative for other kids growing up here, maybe they won’t want to leave.” Musician and Cultural Leader Jabee Williams said, “having art like Home in the community will encourage ownership and involvement from people living there. When people see how something as simple as a work of art can begin the work of elevating the community, they buy in.” Others including Mary Sumo saw the mural as a source of pride or representation of what the community had to offer. She said, “bringing her kids nieces and nephews to a place that celebrates diversity and people who look like them is meaningful. It’s a very special opportunity. It’s the camaraderie that’s very special to me because I don’t get it everywhere. It’s the camaraderie that I didn’t really know that I needed.”

The objective of this project was to create a series of artworks that spoke directly to the community while offering universal messaging to those from outside of the community. Home is a gathering place for those seeking acceptance, community, and opportunity. Figures outreaching, and in embrace, are backed by classical halos which elevate and depict them as defenders of the sacred. Each figure bears a cultural pattern in juxtaposition with the background where the patterns are stripped away to reveal the most basic human connection to nature from which we all come This public art installation of three monumental murals were commissioned to help increase a sense of value and ownership in the area which is predominantly made of Black and African American community members.

“To see representation on the walls of a place that you’ve been waiting to see built for over two decades, it just brings it full circle.” said Nikki Nice, Oklahoma City councilwoman for Ward 7. The mural titled Home took 36 days to paint the but the process of bringing the art to life began almost a year prior. The long community collaboration effort that spearheaded the development, was instrumental to the development of each panel concept and to assuring community ownership.