Reviving our village through art
Healing a root cause of violence by humanizing our neighbors
finding our collective heartbeat through healing and understanding
We're rebuilding connections in our community, one story at a time. Violence doesn't happen in a vacuum - it grows from unmet needs, unheard voices, and unseen pain. With understanding and courageous empathy, we look to create safe spaces, where everyone can be seen and heard. We believe beneath every behavior is a feeling and beneath every feeling, there is an unmet need. When we meet that need rather than focus on the behavior, we begin to deal with the cause, not the symptom.
Therein lies the collective revival of a village.
A child who is not embraced by the village, will burn it down to feel its warmth.
- Ancient African Proverb
Urgently Putting the fire out
Throughout the community, there are individuals who were not embraced by the village- in other words, they survived a lot of trauma throughout their lives in their homes, schools and neighborhoods.
As they searched for the “warmth” of power, love, safety and value but also lacked the proper support and healing, their pain turned into violence which “burned” down their surrounding communities.
This fire, on both sides of harm, has left many deeply wounded in its path…
Creating a cycle of violence that we are committed to breaking.
See me. Hear me. Feel me. Be me.
See me. Hear me. Feel me. Be me.
“After I got shot… I just wanted a chance to draw first if it ever came down to him or me.
I just don’t want to die out here.”
community member who was directly harmed by gun violence and then caused it“After I witnessed a shooting… I had nightmares and couldn’t go grocery shopping due to anxiety attacks.
I just don’t want to die out here.”
community member who was indirectly harmed by gun violence
Village Voices:
The Impact of The Revival
How do we heal through mutual understanding?
Education
Community members who have caused violence and their surrounding communities attend separate workshops to understand how trauma fuels violence and how to use resilience to create peace in the streets.
Dialogue Through Art
Both groups of community members come together for honest, safe, art-based conversations to exchange their stories about how violence has impacted them. This builds empathy for each other's experiences.
PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION OF TRANSFORMATION
Participants collaborate to host art exhibitions that highlight their transformative experience by sharing stories and inspiring the broader community to join them in this revival.
Social Cohesion
Participants continue to collaborate by leading a community-wide working group to solve neighborhood issues, together as a collective.