HELENA — Thanks to the help of roughly ten teens, the United Way of Lewis and Clark Area (UWLCA) has a new mural.
"Let's get a fresh message out there. Let's be sure that we are doing the best we can to let people know who we are and what we do," said Jeff Buscher, the community impact coordinator at UWLCA.
The new mural is a partnership between UWLCA and the Holter Museum of Art's Afterschool Teen Arts Council (ATAC).
Bucket Jacobsen is a 15-year-old in ATAC who helped with the project.
Jacobsen said, "It's pretty cool getting to know that something we all worked so hard on will be there. I think we're all super excited and proud of what we've achieved."
The work started in May when the previous mural was painted over to make a fresh canvas.
The old mural featured faces of people of different races and ethnicities to symbolize diversity and equity.
"The equity piece didn't go away because we don't have the faces anymore; it just reflects our focus on where we are placing our energy right now," said Buscher.
UWLCA's focus is housing.
Buscher said, "Housing is a right. Everybody deserves a place to be warm [and] safe. We want to do everything in our power to help make that happen."
The mural features a blue skyline of various houses with a pair of hands placing a home.
"We tried to use colors from the original United Way logo – not necessarily the same colors, but the general colors. We also branched out to other colors that we felt would look nice," said Jacobsen.
With the donation of supplies and the teens painting for free, UWLCA paid under $500 for the new art.
ATAC will also add a mural to the front porch of UWLCA, inspired by its backpacks for the homeless program.
