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Health & Fitness

(VIDEO) STEP-UP Kids Come Together to Find Strength in Paint

A patriotic mural continues to spread its influence for good as Step Up youth work to finish their project off of Snelling.

Progress is a process. From beginning to end, each project, each day must start. On a cloudy June day, dozens of yellow-clad workers stood scraping, washing, and prepping a wall for their very first mural.

"This is an important place because there are a whole bunch of buildings we can get," founder of Mentoring Peace Through Art Jimmy Longoria said. The buildings are owned by Morton Lider and leased out for private use. Graffiti has heavily plagged the area, keeping potential renters at bay.

Under these conditions, Mentoring Peace Through Art was given permission to paint over the badly splotched wall so long as they painted a patriotic American flag with an emphasis on Minnesotan culture. 

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And that is what they did. Days passed as STEP-UP kids put paint to brick, creating intricate patterns and textures even within the white stripes of the flag. "It seems to be growing," Longoria said as permission to expand further on the wall continued to be given by Lider. "We're catching on."

As the hours passed, the Step Up youth no longer needed direction. Colors were mixed, techniques were perfected, and a general sense of command seemed to fill the work site. Confusion was lost to determination, and as the American flag stretched along the wall, so too did the kids stretch, paint brush in hand, finding strength within their art.

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