Life Choices Mural

Life Cycles Muralist Michael Parker invited many community groups in the neighborhood around the Bradenton Police Substation to join him in investigating the nature and challenges of their community. An intergenerational group shared their thoughts with each other and with the artist while attending art workshops with him to learn mural techniques. Their drawings, photographs of the neighborhood and ideas were incorporated into Michael’s design which reflects what he learned from the participants. The mural poses the questions about their future, faced by youth on the verge of adulthood. It depicts two teens from the neighborhood who represent the challenges and opportunities of young people who yearn to explore the world and who are nurtured by their families and community, which hopes they will return to help build community as adults.