Boone, NC

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: This project will create murals inside tunnels along local walking and biking trails. Older residents will help select the art, which will celebrate the community's identity.

Lihue, HI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: Lihue's downtown faced unsafe, car-centric streets that limited walkability for residents, especially older adults. To address this, the project added murals to bus shelters and a crosswalk, built a community garden and hosted a dinner where attendees voted on mural designs. Volunteers expanded the garden and engaged older adults in shaping public space. These efforts sparked new partnerships and funding for future improvements like street trees and additional gardens. As one volunteer said, "We're not only growing food, we're growing community," underscoring the project's role in fostering connection and livability.

Baltimore, MD

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: Patients and visitors at a new outpatient tower lacked a welcoming space. Art with a Heart installed a 245-square-foot mosaic mural in the main entrance, created through eight workshops with volunteers, many age 50-plus. The mural's stained glass and ceramic pieces reflect community identity and offer comfort. "I am very grateful for the opportunity and the fact that we can always visit the site and re-connect with the whole experience," said one volunteer, underscoring the lasting impact of this collaborative effort.