HAZLETON, Pa. — When you walk into the Hazleton One Community Center, you are met with colorful murals on almost every wall.
Program Director Elaine Maddon Curry says the murals started as a way to beautify the building, but the purpose behind the murals has now bloomed into something much bigger.
"Art is something that it seems as if all our students, no matter where they come from, what they're age, they all seem to appreciate art. It has a universal language," said Curry.
This is the Hazleton Integration Project art initiative's first mural, completed in 2018. It calls attention to the diversity of the Hazleton community.
Hip workers believe diversity is a crucial part of a successful community. Students from the Hazleton area who attend after-school programs in the center assisted with the installation of the first mural. Yohenny Tejada, a Hazleton Area High School student, illustrated the Vitruvian man on the hip's latest mural. A piece focusing on the project's initiative to eradicate food insecurity.
"This helps us connect to the community and see the issues we have and gives the young people a voice that we might think it's important for us to speak on these issues because we see them," said Tejada.
"That is a DaVinci artwork and that needed to be integrated here. It kind of symbolizes the past, the present, and the future," added Christina Galbiati, a Designer for the Eradicating Food Insecurity Initiative.
Bhkti Patel has worked on two murals now as part of the art initiative.
"Most of our happiest memories are almost like when we're together during meal time or even preparing food, so it kind of gives that community feel," said Bhkti Patel, a Hazleton Area High School student.
College students are now working on the newest mural for the Hazleton One Community Center.
To find out more about the Hips Art Initiative, click here.