Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County goes big with a new mural
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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & Inland Empire unveiled a new mural outside its Edinger Avenue building in Santa Ana on Tuesday.
The new billboard-sized artwork is meant to catch the eye of the more than 100,000 drivers motoring past the organization’s building each day. Sloane Keane, chief executive officer at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & Inland Empire, hopes the work will not only touch the young people the organization serves, but also highlight the life-changing impact mentorship can have and inspire people to volunteer.
“We wanted this mural to be two things: a piece of art and also a call to action to the community,” Keane said to the crowd at the mural unveiling ceremony.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & Inland Empire is a mentorship program serving at-risk youth, especially those from low-income households who are in need of positive role models. The organization works to match young boys and girls with a mentor through multiple professionally-supported programs the nonprofit offers. According to BBBS, nearly 65% of the population they serve live below the poverty line and low-income youth are nearly 10 times more likely to drop out of school.
By partnering youth (or “Littles”) with a positive role model who provides a mentoring relationship (a “Big”), BBBS increases the chance of a successful academic career for the child. “Littles” who participate in Big Brothers Big Sisters have a 98% success rate of graduating from high school and almost 67% go on to be the first to graduate from college in their family.
For the mural, the organization tapped local artist, Carla Roque.
“I love to create murals that bring a little bit of joy to the communities that they are created in,” Roque said.
Against the BBBS logo, a Latino child, or a “Little,” wearing glasses looks up at his “Big” mentor, whose face isn’t visible to the viewer. Viewers can infer from the wide smile and shining eyes of the youngster that he feels the adult is someone he can look up to and admire. Yellow rays emphasize the boy’s line of vision toward his mentor and more details around the man’s hand on the boy’s shoulder demonstrate the powerful connection between the two of them. “It takes little to be BIG,” the mural reads.
Roque said she worked hard to include culturally specific features that would help members of the community feel represented in the work.
“We were really looking to make sure the community saw themselves in the mural, that was something that fit within this space of who they are, especially calling out male mentors for young Hispanic males. There is a huge need for that in this area,” said Roque. “The little things like the gold chain were details that people in the community would notice and feel seen.”
The Fullerton-based artist has been working in the community for 25 years, primarily creating murals. For this recent work she employed the help of seven pairs of “Bigs” and “Littles,” giving mentors and mentees the opportunity to take part in the creative process.
Keane said it was also important for the organization to show two males in the mural.
“This is a reminder to the community to get involved, particularly men. We are looking for men,” said Keane. “We have over 100 little boys today waiting for a positive male role model to be introduced into their life.”
Keane said the two words on the bottom of the mural, “Volunteer” and “Donate,” are meant to inspire action.
“Those are the two most important resources this organization needs. Everybody needs funding but in equal measure we need volunteers to walk through the door and stand up and mentor,” said Keane.
For donation and volunteer opportunities with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Orange County & Inland Empire visit ocbigs.org.
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