We are thrilled to announce the completion of the Oakland Super Heroes Mural #4!
Located on West St. at 35th St. under the I-580 freeway, we celebrated this magnificent unveiling last Friday with the help of Creative Originator Amana Harris and our beautiful crew of guest speakers: Art Director David Burke, Lead Artists Lindsey Millikan, California State Senator Nancy Skinner, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, District 3 Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney, OUSD Representative Jamoke Hinton Hodge, Caltrans District Director Bijan Sartipi, Hoover Elementary Principal Ashley Martin, and the Hoover ArtEsteem Youth Leadership students!
Two full years in the making, the completion of this piece of public art truly feels like a triumph for the community. "We're standing in front of the amazing product of your hard work, patience, and above all persistence." David Burke told the group of beaming Hoover students sitting front row, "It is my hope is that when you have children that are your age, you will be able to bring them back here and show them this wall and tell them you were apart of this."
A collaborative effort, approximately 50 young people participated in Attitudinal Healing Connection's Self as Super Hero curriculum, collectively reinvented themselves as super heroes who possessed the powers to solve what they saw as their communities most pressing issues. From there, the AHC team merged the inspirations generated from the students into the mural design you see represented today featuring the Super Heroes: Debow Jalapeño, Fantastic Girl, Golden Boy, Lava Queen, and Lava Boy. With the help of our talented Mural Artist Team and the after-school dedication of students, this vision became a colorful, bright, and inspired reality.
Even the legal setbacks we faced making this mural turned out to be a surprise learning experience for the students, who were immediately mobilized into action writing letters to leaders in their community. This collective effort and the support we received from the AHC network showed students what a small but powerful group of individuals can accomplish when they unify together in civic action. As Councilwoman Lynette Gibson McElhaney reminded us at the ceremony, we are "Love-alutionaries" (love and revolutionary) and it is love that is the ultimate healing force.
A visual and public manifestation of the work AHC has been conducting over the past three decades, we invite you to visit this beautiful new addition to our home and, if you love what you see, donate now to support Mural #5.