(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — This week’s Difference Maker gained and then shared inspiration during the pandemic and period of unrest in Chicago.
Barret Keithley from Morgan Park co-founded Paint the City, alongside Missy Perkins, when he realized that all parts of Chicago were starting to look like his neighborhood.
“We noticed that a lot of our artists were struggling to make ends meet,” Keithley says. “And we also noticed that the city was struggling, because everything was boarded up.”
Paint the City now supports nearly 60 local artists.
Keithley’s latest campaign is creating a more mindful environment for Chicago school kids. “Help Paint The City, Paint The Schools” pairs professional artists with students to plan and create inspiring and impactful murals both inside and outside of schools that resonate with the students and their neighborhoods — many in communities with the most need.
“Everywhere around them they see abandoned buildings or they see vandalism,” he says. “They don’t see any beauty in their neighborhood, unfortunately. But when they walk into the school, it’s most pivotal that they see beauty and they see themselves.”
Related
