Muralism serves young adult artists with disabilities through arts instruction/employment services, low-income students with arts education, and members of economically disadvantaged neighborhoods with collaborative public mural making.

The organization’s core program is the creation of public and school murals led by artists with disabilities. Mural designs are created in partnership between our artists and students or residents of local neighborhoods Upon student body/community approval, Muralism artists lead multiple mural painting workshops teaching surface preparation, transference onto the wall of the design laid out in a grid, and the specific artistic practices unique to mural painting.

During Community or School Paint Days, artists with special needs and students/local residents work side-by-side on a project that beautifies, and strengthens, a local neighborhood or campus—getting to know and appreciate each other in the process. Completed murals are celebrated by all contributors in a public “Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony” that acknowledges the artwork, the special needs artists, and the contributions of students, families, and members of the neighborhood, as well as partner agencies (whether public, corporate, or nonprofit).

Our primary activity is conducting experiential, participatory arts education out-of-school programming at Los Angeles Title 1 schools, where low-income students represent 47–94% of learners, determined by qualifying through California’s Free/Reduced lunch program guidelines. All artistic activities are free to students, teachers, families, and community residents.

In parallel services, Muralism trains artists with disabilities in artistic and vocational skills such as form, line, color and professional conduct, workplace safety, and social interaction. Artists then receive paid on-the-job training and follow a professional progression leading to employment at Muralism or in the larger community. We also provide general art classes for those with special needs interested in moving forward with vocational services and to those for whom art is a personally enriching experience.