Creando Nuestro Futuro Minnesotano: Modern day Latinx murals envisioning a better tomorrow

The discovery of incredibly talented young people and their understanding of the role of Art and Culture in their lives. Through a successful collaboration among Aurora Charter School, Adler Graduate School and the artist Gustavo Lira, we can report that:

* The school successfully created three groups and scheduled them appropriately according to grade and age.
* The first group of the project, the 6th to 8th grade group, held their projected after school session from September 13th, through November 10th. - In that session the children received an overview of the history of Mural making in Minnesota and Mexico.
* -The children and the staff from HACER (Including the muralist Gustavo Lira), the ELDER foundation and the school, held long conversations about their:
* Their family cultural background
* The effect on their lives and their families of the COVID-19 pandemic and the George Floyd riots
* Children's drawings ensued that portrayed those events and their response to the pandemic and the George Floyd riots.
* With those drawings, the composition of the mural was drafted.
* The mural was painted by the children during their class time. The children were divided in groups and took turn in painting or, developed art activities related projectThe projected mural was finished by the students (see photos), with the guide of Gustavo Lira. Each child created a take home memory book with copies of their drawing. The children understood, as reflected in their comments, the value of Art as a healing tool within the community.

; All goals were achieved at the end of the project's period. The initiative was a four-way collaborative partnership between HACER (Hispanic Advocacy and Community Engagement through Research) - design, management and evaluation, Aurora Charter School (host and logistics), Gustavo Lira Garcia (muralist artist), and Alder Graduate School in Mental Health (art therapy support). Through guided conversations and art therapeutic activities - focused on cultural identity, impact of the events of the last few years, Color exploration on early drafts and hope for the future - students expressed their feelings and the impact that the events of the last few years had in their lives. Children also explored the concept of identity as a tool to increase self-esteem and improve their mental health.
These practices allowed them to find paths to explore and express their thoughts and feelings -individually and collectively- and ultimately elevate their sense of self-efficacy.
Sanar Creando (Healing Through Art) is a four-way collaborative partnership between Alder Graduate School in Mental Health,School, artist Gustavo Lira
Garcia, Aurora Charter School, and HACER (Hispanic Advocacy and Community Engagement through Research).
Anchored in the pillars of art therapy and the muralist tradition in Latin American culture the project SanarCreandowas designed to use culturally inclusive expressive activities as a tool to assist students in processing and decreasing the impact of the traumatic events of the last few years, described above,
and invite students to participate in documenting the story and the events from their perspective.
Sanar Creando (Healing Through Art) was intended for students to explore and strengthen the concept of identity as a building block of self-esteem and mental well-being. It aimed for children to find paths to express their thoughts and feelings individually and collectively to contribute to a vision for a better tomorrow for everyone. During the preliminary design, the team had planned that each grade, K-8, would meet twice a week over a 4-week period for each grade. However, after careful consideration, the team determined that longer engagement periods would be more advantageous for the students and the process.
As a result, we restructured our approach and grouped the students into three multi-grade bands, K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. We met with each group for 9 weeks,maintaining the same frequency and duration of the gatherings. This approach enabled the team to create better connections with the students and provide them with a more engaged and meaningful learning experience.
The project was done in three phases, where students were grouped by grade level.
Number of hours invested in class: Each group met for 9 weeks, twice a week for 2 hours. About 35-40 hours of meeting time per phase.
Number of students participating: Each phase had 14-17 students participating.
Number of people involved:
HACER: 2 (Artist/Coordinator + Evaluator)
AURORA: 2 (Art teacher + Social Worker)
ADLER: 1-4 (Art Therapists and coordinator, depending on class schedules)
MURALIST: 1
Mural unveiling:
Number of parents attending the final presentation about 20.

Three murals were created, in the three diferent stages.
The first one, "Justice for al" (see attached report)
The artists of this mural are students in grades 6th through 8th.
They sought to represent the events they lived during the pandemic and the demonstrations and riots following the murder of George Floyd.
They also expressed their desire for inclusivity in women and her rainbow bandana and the raised fist of "Black Lives Matter."
Finally, the butterfly, represents freedom, and the character looking to the future and the message of hope represents their desire for Justice for All.
Students want this segment of the mural to prompt conversations among those who see it.

The second mural, "Health, Community, adn Peace" (see attached report)
The artists in this mural are students from 3rd through 5th grade.
The mural represents three important ideas for students - three struggles.
Fight for health: The intensity of feelings of fear, frustration, and uncertainty during COVID and quarantine
Fight for our community: The flags around the tree of life representing togetherness, student identities and pride in their cultures
Struggle for justice and peace: Hands around the world and a student protesting, using their voice, especially when they feel someone is not being treated fairly
Students want this segment of the mural to make us talk about what happens in the world and how we feel about them.

The third and final mural, "Hope in the Future"
The artists in this mural are students in kindergarten through 2nd grade.
The students show here the pride of the task accomplished by hard work and collaboration, demonstrating that we all have something of an artist inside -
represented by the pencil and the rainbow and the art that emanates from it.
The tree represents their strengths and protection, especially that of their families. The unicorn is the imagination and creativity of the students. The
hummingbird represents freedom.
Students want everyone who experiences this last section of the mural to feel joy, happiness, and hope for the future.