About the Project 

The mural is entitled It has to be from here, forgotten but unshaken… and represents a partnership between Mural Arts, APM, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services. The mural depicts the strength and resilience of the APM community as well as the importance of APM as an anchor in the community. Between October 2011 and May 2012, program participants were exposed to the use of shapes and patterns and as a means of encouraging meditation, self-reflection, and awareness of a creative space within a visual structure. Many of the mandalas featured in the mural were created by program participants and reflect their vision of culture and identity. The mural is a part of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Porch Light Initiative – an initiative striving to improve the health of individuals and communities through human connection and art – and is a reflection of the creativity and effort put forth by Porch Light program participants, artist Betsy Casañas, and over 200 community members at and around APM who supported the work.

ASSISTED BY: Leidy Burgos, Salvador Casañas, Adolfo Gonzalez, Nicholas Lopez, Jenny Lee Maas, Reynaldo Rodriguez, Angel Sanchez, Juan Sanchez, Luiz Sanchez