Community murals begin with imagination and care.
When people create together, they build connection, confidence, and a shared sense of belonging.
Through Murals of Hope, youth, artists, and neighbors turn shared ideas into murals and community art projects that strengthen their communities.
Through creating together, we learn how shared artistic practice builds trust, care, and connection across generations.
Over
32,672
square feet ofmural space
53
Murals
32
Community settings
12
U.S. states
Turning sharedstories intosites of hope
Since 2011, Emanuel Project has collaborated with artists, educators, and youth to create over 50 community murals in juvenile detention and re-entry programs. Each mural began with discussions of identity, struggle, and resilience, informed by artist Emanuel Martinez’s journey from incarcerated youth to artist and mentor. This collaboration used art to bridge generations and share stories of transformation and possibility.
Through this work, we have learned that creating together opens space for reflection on identity, place, and possibility for youth, artists, and communities alike.
Today, we carry this legacy forward by collaborating with artists, educators, and youth on art projects that grow from the stories, experiences, and hopes we share. We co-design creative processes that are culturally grounded and rooted in community storytelling.
Our projects bring together long-term artist mentorship, youth-led storytelling, and community partnership so each mural grows from lived experience and shared care.
“The impact the mural project has on the kids who work on the mural is pretty phenomenal, but even more so, is the powerful impact it has on the kids who get to see the mural on a daily basis.”
Emanuel Martinez, Founding Artist
Imagine
Our projects begin with imagination and conversations between artists and youth, grounded in their lived experiences and backgrounds. By sharing ideas and perspectives, they explore together identity, belonging, and purpose.
Collaborate
At the heart of Murals of Hope is collaboration and mentorship. Youth work side by side with artists and peers, shaping shared ideas into murals and community art projects that reflect their communities and hope.
Belong
In our communities, Murals of Hope creates public spaces where people can see a bit of themselves reflected and valued.
Murals of Hopein Practice
Murals created through shared imagination, mentorship, and collaboration.
Preserving the Spirit of the Community Mural Tradition
As our work has evolved, so have the ways we create together. Beyond large-scale murals, Murals of Hope now works with schools and community partners across towns and cities on youth-led public art projects of all scales—from murals to collaborative pieces that bring color and meaning to shared community spaces.
Many of the murals created through Murals of Hope become part of our long-term care and preservation work through the Chicana/o/x Murals of Colorado Project.
No matter the scale, each project carries the spirit of the community mural tradition that grounds our work: using art to reflect identity, cultural memory, and a shared sense of belonging in public space.
GetInvolved
Help us keep our community stories alive.
Every Murals of Hope project begins with a shared story–help us bring the next one to life.
We work with schools and educators to bring murals and community stories into classrooms through collaborative, grant-supported projects.