Art in the Park: Disadvantaged Atlanta Youth Collaborate with Local Artist to

Paint a Two-Story Mural on Their Apartment Building

Residents of the West End Oakland City Apartments will get a new mural on the front of their
apartment building, and the residents' children will help paint it. Local artist and muralist,
Muhammad Suber, also known as Artist InUs, was commissioned by Evolving Arts of America and
Chisom Housing Group to paint a two story mural on the facade of the West End site of the Oakland
City West End Apartments, an affordable housing complex on Howell Place SW in Historic West
End section of Atlanta.

Atlanta, GA, June 13, 2018 --(PR.com)-- This June, residents of the West End Oakland City Apartments
will get a new mural on the side of their apartment building. Their children will help paint it. Local artist
and muralist, Artist InUs, who is also known as Muhammad Suber, was commissioned by Evolving Arts
of America and Chisom Housing Group to paint a two story mural on the facade of the Howell Place SW
site of the Oakland City West End Apartments, an affordable housing complex with sites in the Oakland
City and West End sections of Atlanta. Additional program collaborators include Friends of Howell Park,
Filthy Riché Clothing Co., and West End Neighborhood Development.

Last summer, Al Gill Chenault, M.S.Ed, JD, a West End resident who serves Evolving Arts' director of
community engagement and government affairs in addition to leading the community improvement
group, Friends of Howell Park, collaborated with Evolving Arts executive director, Ramel Westry to
create “Art in the Park,” a multi-dimensional program crafted to meet the unique needs of the West End
neighborhood by introducing children to local artist-mentors, providing healthy food, and reclaiming
Howell Park for safe outdoor activities.

Chenault, a self proclaimed “art heaux,” saw that Mr. Westry had done a free art workshop for children in
Douglasville, Georgia, and asked him if he could bring the free arts enrichment program to the West End
section of Atlanta. Last year, over 30 children from Southwest Atlanta participated in the Art in the Park
program in Howell Park. This year, the project has expanded. In addition to providing free outdoor art
classes and healthy meals to area youth every Saturday in June, the duo will work with local artist and
muralist, Muhammad Suber, to provide a free week-long summer camp for the disadvantaged youth who
reside in the apartment complex across the street from the park. “Last summer, we our program was
heavily attended by the kids from across the street -- which we expected, but we were amazed at the
impact it had on their self esteem, sense of community pride, and the void it filled,” Chenault said. “And
we were humbled when the children asked if they could take the snacks home for their siblings.”

This year, instead of just providing healthy snacks, camp participants will receive healthy meals, courtesy
of Chisom Housing Group, Inc. People living in both Oakland City and the West End neighborhoods
experience higher rates of crimes and poverty and lower rates of high school completion and access to
healthy food compared to their peers living in other parts of Atlanta. “Chisom recognizes that to ensure
the sustained wellbeing and success of our residents, we must understand the impact of their environment
and play an active role in revitalizing their greater neighborhoods,” explained Sarah Bagley, executive
director of Chisom Housing Group.

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The mural is anticipated to have a lasting positive impact on the children in the housing complex by
improving the city scape, empowering youth to take ownership of their community through artwork and
encouraging the youth to feel a vested interest in safeguarding their surrounding outdoor area.

Art in the Park

When: June 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, & 30th, 2018, 11am-2pm
Who: Open to school aged children who reside in SW Atlanta.
Where: Howell Park, 983 Ralph David Abernathy, Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30310
Art in the Park Summer Camp & Howell Place Mural Art Project
When: Runs from June 25-30, 2018, 10am-3pm
Who: Local youth from the Oakland City West End Apartments, an affordable housing complex, to create
a two-story mural
Where: Oakland City West End Apartments, 979 Howell Place SW, Atlanta, GA 30310

Mural Exhibition Reception

When: July, 14th 2018; 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Who: Free and open to the public.
Where: Oakland City West End Apartments, 979 Howell Place SW, Atlanta, GA 30310

About the Artist

Artist InUs a.k.a Muhammad Suber
Mr. Suber is an accomplished artist, originally from Yonkers, New York. He began sketching at about 4
years old. Predominantly self-taught, he started out using colored pencils, pens and markers to inject
real-life figures into a fantasy setting, creating superheroes out of everyday people from his life into his
work. Last summer, he collaborated with WonderRoot, an Atlanta-based nonprofit arts and service
organization to create a mural -- a compilation of portraits that the kids painted of themselves and then
enlarged -- for the Bellwood Boys and Girls Club. He also maintains a permanent mural and exhibit at
Gill Gallery.

About Evolving Arts of America

Evolving Arts of America is a 501(c)(3) organization with outreach in Atlanta, New York, and New
Orleans, that encourages youth ages 10-17 to develop their creative potentials through the arts. We
provide an environment in which children can feel free to imagine, create, and welcome the arts into their
lives.

About Chisom Housing Group

Chisom Housing Group is a Washington, D.C. based 501(c)(3) organization that owns the Oakland City
West End Apartments (OCW), an affordable housing community located in three areas in Oakland City
and the West End. Its mission is to provide safe, comfortable and affordable housing as well as social
services to its residents, all of whom are living on low to very low incomes.

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About Friends of Howell Park

Friends of Howell Park is a civic organization facilitated through Park Pride, Inc. It is comprised of a
group of neighbors who are committed to the preservation, beautification, and enhancement of Howell
Park in the Historic West End in Atlanta, Georgia.

About Howell Park

For over sixty years, Howell Park, located at 983-999 Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard, named in honor
of former mayor and resident of West End - Evan P. Howell - was the only park in West End. Originally
a part of his residential estate, the Park came into being after Mr. Howell's death when friend acquired the
land and donated to the City in 1905. Currently, Howell Park and Playground are in operation at the
corner of RDA Boulevard and Peeples Street and are a contributing site to the district. The original home,
the "Woodlawn," was demolished, but the Oakland City West End Apartments sit where the home once
stood. During the West End Urban Renewal projects, two new public parks came into being in the West
End -- West End Park at Lawton and Oak Streets and the Rose Circle Park at Rose Circle and Lowery
Blvd.

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Contact Information:
Evolving Arts of America, Inc.
Al Gill Chenault
470-382-9093
Contact via Email
https://www.evolvingartsofamerica.org

Online Version of Press Release:

You can read the online version of this press release at: https://www.pr.com/press-release/756472

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