A Bay Area non-profit has teamed up with local artists to use art and expression to help clean up the community.
Current Initiatives and Pep Rally Inc. have launched the new campaign, which will display murals in low income and often times high crime communities.
"We thought, 'what are some ways that we can bring some beauty to something that is not very beautiful?'" Jason Sowell, President of Current Initiatives, said.
The murals have been painted in East Tampa and Ybor City. They feature the word “clean” in different colors. Artists hope they spread a message of hope.
"We've seen the power of murals," said Josh Pearson of Pep Rally Inc. "We've seen the power of street art in a community and we wanted to bring to as many places in Tampa as we could."
"There's a lot of tension that we've recognized in our communities and throughout our country. So me, as an artist, we saw that this one thing actually breaks all boundaries and really brings people together on all levels," Pearson said.
The murals are part of the non-profit’s “Laundry Project” which gives monthly, free laundry services to families in need.
"Being clean, having clean clothes to put on having a shower, living in a place that's clean in a neighborhood that's clean that brings a lot of pride and dignity and hope to an area." adds Sowell. "We're hoping that other people will see it and want to bring some cleanliness, some hope, some dignity to their neighborhood, to their own life, to someone else's life."
Current Initiatives has plans to paint more murals in Sulphur Springs, West Tampa and other communities in the Bay Area.
For more information, visit www.engagecurrent.org.