The Albert M. Greenfield Restorative Justice Program

Continuing the Mural Arts Program's (MAP) successful partnerships with communities on innovative anti-violence projects like Healing Walls and All Join Hands: The Visions of Peace, MAP has initiated a public art and social justice project, The Albert M. Greenfield Restorative Justice Program. This groundbreaking project will address how a community can heal in the wake of increased crime and violence. Through a special grant from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation, and in partnership with the Department of Human Services and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Greenfield Restorative Justice Program will focus its first of two years on a community in the Logan/Olney area of North Philadelphia.

The Greenfield Restorative Justice Program will use innovative restorative justice methods that focus on both court-involved youth and the communities they are from. As young people return to their communities from their involvement with the juvenile justice system, they are often asked to make restitution by performing community service in the communities where they have been accused of their crimes. For restorative justice to occur, it is critical that these young men and women become re-connected with their communities and are provided opportunities to make amends and to give back. Through The Greenfield Restorative Justice Program, MAP will help to spur the process of restitution and restorative justice using mural-making as a vehicle of engagement and connection. The youth will work side-by-side with community members to create a large-scale work of public art that will reflect the values and history of the Logan/Olney community and will transform a public space.

The overarching goal of The Greenfield Restorative Justice Program is to implement a restorative justice model that will unite the community and the youth through an intensive process of encounter and exchange. A crucial element to healing the wounds caused by crime in a community is ensuring that every individual who is impacted by crime is engaged in a long-term process of restoration. MAP will continue to work closely with all community members, and at the same time, use mural-making to re-connect youth coming out of placement and re-entering their lives in the neighborhood. The Greenfield Restorative Justice Program will continue to expose the youth to a variety of options and opportunities for creative expression that will give them a safe space to grapple with the complex social issues which they face on a daily basis.

It is MAP's hope that through The Greenfield Restorative Justice Program, the youth participants will discover the values and the history that make their community unique. This will, in turn, make them valuable assets to the community—positive ambassadors and keepers of the community's rich history and tradition. MAP will help the youth to gain this knowledge by training them in interviewing, deep listening, storytelling, and mural-making.