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Home >> Programs >> Take heART! >> Staples Mural

Staples Center Mural Project

STAPLES Center Foundation takes great pride in the nonprofit partners it supports.  They're always looking for new ways to work with the charities that reside in the neighborhoods surrounding the arena, and Create Now!'s offices are just two miles away.  They offered us (along with other community organizations), a wonderful opportunity to invite some of the youth that we serve to paint murals on part of the 3,000 feet of fencing that circles the construction site for the LA Live complex.  These decorated panels are called "Miles of Smiles" - allowing our city's children to bring beauty and creativity to their community.

Children's Institute

Create Now! coordinated this art project for six months with 6 facilities located around downtown.  We asked them to include our logo somewhere on their murals so that not only would people recognize our name, but they'll also learn an important message: to create now.  Here are the facilities that participated:

• Alexandria House - Homeless shelter for women and children
• Berendo Middle School: "L.A. Bridges" and "Woodcraft Rangers" - Two after-school programs for high-risk children
• Central Juvenile Hall - Prison for youth awaiting their trials
• Children's Institute - Services for children exposed to violence
• Esperanza Community Housing Corporation - After-school program for poor,      at-risk kids
• Linden Center - Special education school for emotionally-disturbed youngsters, many of them abused and neglected.

STAPLES Center delivered large wood panels, paint and brushes (that were donated by Home Depot) to all of the participants, and the kids went to work.  Warner Brothers Studios also donated paint for this project, through their "Encore" recycling program.

The kids had a blast designing their own pictures and then painting them.   They reaped many rewards through this project.

They were so engrossed in the creation process as they developed their ideas that they were detached from everything else, including their problems.  Self-expression through the arts has been proven to be very therapeutic, and if anybody needs healing, it's most of these kids.  

Another great benefit was that it's been well over one year during the construction of L.A. Live, and the youths' work is still publicly displayed. The kids are able to proudly show their families and friends their artistic talents, and to know that thousands of other people are viewing it as well.

The best part for them, however, is that the STAPLES Center Foundation has generously given these children free tickets to some of their events.  They've provided 60 of the youngsters an opportunity to experience "Champions on Ice," which the kids are still talking about.  And during hockey season, the children went to Kings games.

Most of these youth know everything about STAPLES Center and they've even included it in some of their mural art, but they could never afford to attend a program there.  Having the chance to be present at a popular sporting event is like a dream come true for many of them.  It can motivate the children to study harder and work towards being able to buy their own tickets to these events some day.  One of the teens who was incarcerated at Central Juvenile Hall has enjoyed participating in this Create Now! and STAPLES Center collaborative project so much that he now plans to attend art school when he's released from jail.

STAPLES Center arranged a big press conference on November 21, 2006 for the unveiling of all these murals.  Being celebrated publicly with media exposure for this project added even more excitement for the children.  Many of them were present at the inauguration of their work.  They even got box lunches and had a picnic outside of the arena.

It's fun for them to participate in an incredible undertaking like this and the kids will never forget it.  Their self-esteem and confidence got a major boost from such a phenomenal opportunity.

Elizabeth Eve at Esperanza Community Housing shares the childrens' reactions after attending a Kings game and seeing their work displayed:  "The kids had a fabulous time.  Two of them now believe they are famous artists."

Berendo Middle School "L.A. Bridges" Program Coordinator Ana Moscoso says, "The kids enjoyed the game and their experience at the STAPLE's Center.  For some it was their first time there.  They loved their murals and they were excited to see them up, especially because they are right at the corner of Figueroa and Chick Hearn, near the ticket box office."

We're very grateful to the STAPLES Center Foundation for allowing Create Now! to be a part of this fantastic project.  They definitely are bringing "Miles of Smiles" to many troubled children in our community.