Tulsa, OK

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: Until recently, Tulsa's Greenwood neighborhood was a food desert, with fresh and healthy food difficult to find. When the Oasis Fresh Market opened in North Tulsa, the Met Cares Foundation wanted to celebrate a healthier future. So they engaged the community to paint a mural for the new store. First, project organizers called on local students to create drawings celebrating the theme A Healthy Future for All Generations. Residents then voted on their favorite designs, selecting winners from elementary, middle and high school students. Finally, North Tulsa artists painted murals on the market's wall, using the students' designs as inspiration. Project organizers say the beautification effort allowed community members to depict a hopeful future for Greenwood. They plan to make the design contest an annual event.

Waianae, HI

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: Nonprofit organization Making Dreams Come True Valley of Rainbows beautified 24 traffic utility boxes along a stretch of Farrington Highway, decorating them with colorful mini-murals. Local artists chose themes for the boxes representing the beauty and culture of Hawaii's Waianae Coast, with imagery including ocean waves, sea creatures, and culturally relevant messages, such as Malama 'aime, which reminds Hawaiians to respect and care for the land. Project organizers said the utility boxes had been the target of vandalism in the past but hope the new artwork will foster community pride. "When you drive down Farrington Highway, you don't notice anything but maybe the houses and the beaches," artist Chris Koanui told HawaiiNewsNow. "But there's so much more, because these valleys are deep and rich."

Peoria, IL

AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021

Project Category: Public art installations

Description: Organizers with Phoenix Community Development Services know supportive housing facilities for unhoused Peoria residents are often drab. To address this, the nonprofit -- which develops transitional apartment complexes -- created a three-story mural in an alley between an existing building and an upcoming facility. Apartment residents provided input on the mural's design and helped install the artwork, which is visible from one of downtown Peoria's major thoroughfares.