Our Mattapan Campaign: Faces of Mattapan
Faces of Mattapan, (2017, wood, acrylic, resin, 15ft x 4ft) on view at the Mattapan Library
Chanel Thervil was selected as the artist for 2017's Our Mattapan Campaign by The Boston Public Health Commission's Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) of Mattapan Community Health Center. Through this role, Chanel collaborated with VIP, the Our Mattapan Youth Design Team, and Mattapan residents to create a series of large scale wooden portraits that reflect the beauty, integrity, and pride of the neighborhood.
About Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP)
The Violence Intervention & Prevention (VIP) Initiative is an initiative by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) to address violence in 5 “hot spot” neighborhoods in Boston. The goal of the BPHC’s VIP Initiative is to strengthen these neighborhoods’ capacity to develop community initiatives that prevent violence over the long term. Through strong community mobilization techniques, VIP coalitions work to ensure residents have the knowledge and resources to drive sustained changes that influence violence where they live.
Background on the Campaign Message
"The Our Mattapan. Many Pasts. One Future." social norms campaign is at its third iteration since its initial launch in 2013. The Our Mattapan Youth Design Team, with support from the BPHC’s VIP staff and the Mattapan Community Health Center’s VIP Coordinator Arthur Kitty, conducted several street interviews with Mattapan residents of many ages, attended community meetings, and hosted Teen Café’s to redesign the campaign message. The info below reflects the product of their hard work.
Overall Message/Theme: Enlightening people about Mattapan & highlighting youth in the community to counter the “Murderpan” view of Mattapan.
· Sub-Message 1: Spread Love Not Lies. This message will dispel the idea that Mattapan is all things negative. The youth want to change that narrative to talk about the wonderful things that young people are doing in the community and encourage other young people to discuss the positive things they see as well.
· Sub-Message 2: Don’t believe the hype, we’re the… type. This message emphasizes the positive impact young people are making in the Mattapan community that is often times overlooked. The young people want to demonstrate their leadership and engage other young people to show how they are leaders in their own ways; and how they can get involved to continue to make their community an even better place to live.
