Looking & Learning Belonging
Pull-out Resource
Jane Golden and Peter Pagast, Peace Wall, 1998. © 1998 City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program/Jane Golden and Peter Pagast. Photo © JackRamsdale.com.
People belonging to a community have talents and
interests to share with each other.
Moving around and through our communities, we often see the same people living and
working around us. We recognize people
working at the grocery store, for example,
and our mail carrier or librarian. We may not
know their names, but we remember their
faces. The life and energy of any community
come from the many different people who
live, work, and play there. People belonging
to a community have talents and interests to
share with each other. They also have certain
roles. Some of them protect us, help build
our homes, or care for us when we are ill.
And, of course, some people work within the
community as artists.
Some artists help communities celebrate
their heritage by creating artworks about
local people and their way of life. In cities
and towns around the nation, artists and
community members have worked together
to create murals and other public artworks
to honor their past, their heroes, and their
community spirit. These public artworks
help people of all ages celebrate and express
pride in belonging to their community.
Murals might remind us of significant events
and people in our history. They might also
prompt us to think hopefully about our
future. While adding beauty to our neighborhoods, community murals remind people
that they have a place in which they belong.
