How one New Orleans art program is building up, inspiring city’s incarcerated youths

The news of a 17-year-old girl shot dead in broad daylight fueled the inspiration behind a Juvenile Justice Intervention Center mural. 

The girl’s brother, a detained youth at the Gentilly-based center, led advocacy efforts for the mural weeks prior as a way to express ruminating thoughts he confronted each night in his cell.

“He manifested this project and needed it, but he didn’t know that he would need it,” said Journey Allen, director of youth education at Arts New Orleans and the artist behind numerous murals across the city. 

In the early days after the shooting, Allen said the boy didn’t want to participate with the group in creating the artwork he once pushed for, but eventually, he was able to join them.

Graveyards to gardens

The project, called, “From Graveyards to Gardens,” is one of multiple vibrant artworks plastered along the walls of the center that were painted by youth selected for the Young Artist Movement program through Arts New Orleans.

Together, they blended the colors of a large snake overlooking a set of tombstones, replacing the barren wall outside the center’s cafeteria. 

“R.I.P. neglect; R.I.P. the old me; R.I.P. drugs; violence; poverty,” the tombstones read underneath a lightning cloud. Graveyard vines sprout up from the dirt and intertwine with a set of praying hands like rosary beads.

On the other side is a rainbow and butterflies — a “garden” as reflected in the piece’s title. The group members wanted to show their transition from who they were to who they would become. 

The murals are supported through the Young Artist Movement Diversion program, a program of the nonprofit Arts New Orleans that was initiated by the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office two years ago. It’s funded by commissions, private donations and foundations. 

The program’s premise is rooted in healing and resilience through artistic expression. Those who participate in the full project receive an $850 stipend upon completion — or an adjusted amount for how long they worked.

Moving parts

For Allen, a former New Orleans public school teacher, the murals represent a mix of realities that are both beautiful and tragic.

In the facility’s sanctuary room, she points to the stained glass paintings of the teens blanketing the walls. The project is unfinished, partly due to some of the artists’ transition to Orleans Parish Prison after they turned 17. Under Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration, 17-year-olds charged with a crime are now treated as adults. The new law took effect earlier this year. 

The self-portraits depict parts of their individual identities outside the facility — brands of clothing, favorite things they enjoy.

“You’re here, but it’s like you’re not here because no one can know your name. No one can identify you because everything about you is confidential, but they’re choosing to present who they are,” Allen said of the facility’s protocols.

The paintings, touched by three or four cohorts of detained youth, also reflect the many moving parts of the pre-trial facility from arrival, to awaiting sentencing and potentially being transitioned to adult prison, Allen said.

In between those moving parts, the center attempts to change the trajectory of many who are temporarily pulled away from the influence of their home environments — a challenging task for those who are often released back into those same environments. Others may receive lifelong sentences for their crimes. 

Youth crime wave

According to data from the New Orleans Police Department Analytics Unit, crime rates across the city show steep declines compared to August 2022, yet juvenile murders reached a 15-year high last year. 

A report compiled by Jesse Chanin Research and Consulting earlier this year found that city-funded juvenile justice programs were underserving New Orleans youth, stressing that early intervention and family therapy are worthy of more investments. 

But intergenerational poverty, among other compounding factors, is at the crux of youth violence, said Asia Baker, mother of Malik Baker, who was recently released from the center after 11 months.

Baker said a lack of recreational opportunities for impoverished kids is also an issue.

“When we were young, we had so many free summer camps. We were able to go swimming all the time,” she said.

Chris Carter, a family friend and mentor to Malik, pointed to a city that lacks adequate experiences and pathways for youth to grow out of poverty. 

“The whole New Orleans vibe is just not kid-friendly,” he said. 

While detained, Malik was away from the distractions of the streets and doing well while enrolled at the Travis Hill school within the facility. So much so, that his mom asked the judge to allow him to stay an additional two months to complete LEAP testing. The request was granted and he passed. 

Malik participated in the Young Artist Movement Diversion program at the center, an experience that gave him a “clearer vision of life,” and led to his continued involvement with the organization on the outside.

Through the program, young creatives are provided with job and educational opportunities where they can learn entrepreneurship, digital literacy and leadership skills.

Their colorful public art projects can be seen on buildings and other prominent locations across New Orleans and represent an array of topics from environmental stability to the harms of incarceration.