Paint Park Village
By Rebecca Petersen
![Picture](/uploads/7/7/0/1/77019529/2525554.jpg?357)
OpenPath Investments Company teamed up with several local artists to engage children in the Park Village Apartments and encourage a community feel in the residency through the creation of murals. The event was called Paint Park village and was held on Saturday, April 9, 2016, in Mesa.
OpenPath Investments is a “social impact real estate company,” which founded a program titled Urban Village.
According to the Community Program Director for Urban Village, Sara Mossman, “Urban Village is all about creating and facilitating pride in communities in these multi family properties.”
The objective of the program is to give people a sense of identity with where they live.
“The goal of Urban Village is to connect people to one another through community programs and also to connect people to where they live. A lot of people who live in apartment complexes don’t really feel a sense of home. At Urban Village, we are all looking for ways for people to feel that sense of home and belonging and that comes from feeling connected to the place that they call home and to the people that live around them,” Mossman said.
Mossman had visited Park Village Apartments on numerous occasions to promote the company and share what it offers with the residents. However, Saturday was the first time Urban Village hosted a mural painting project.
Mossman was prompted to choose this particular event due to her previous encounters with the residents. “Every time I go there I try to have an art or a craft program for the kids as part of the event that I’m hosting. And I’ve seen so much talent and creativity coming out of these children when they get their hands on some pens or paint. And so I thought well maybe it would be amazing to have some professional artists there so that the kids could get inspired that art could become a career and that they have a place to put their talents,” she said.
Mossman reached out to Mesa Urban Gardens to attain a list of local artists, where she came across muralist and graphic designer, Isaac Caruso.
Caruso was amongst the artists to participate in the Paint Park Village event.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Caruso began painting at 14 and started selling his work on Roosevelt at 16. His love of art eventually transpired into a career.
His love of art and murals was furthered by participating in a program that allowed him to live in hostels for free in exchange for a mural. His work now exists internationally.
“I got to do [murals in] Las Angeles, Las Vegas, and then also a few spots in Argentina and Uruguay,” Caruso said. “If its just a blank white wall, there’s no reason to not have art on it.”
Caruso’s work can also be found all over Phoenix, which he has featured on his personal website as well as Global Street Art.
His enthusiasm and passion for art rendered him the perfect candidate for Paint Park Village.
He met with the kids a week prior to starting the project to see what colors they liked and discuss ideas, as well as to get a feel for the area.
“He [Caruso] was so agreeable and so interested that he seemed like a natural fit and I’m really glad he decided to be a part of the team,” Mossman said.
Mossman concluded that “We [Urban Village] have a big emphasis on developing the common areas of these properties as places where people can naturally connect with each other . . . So now we have these beautiful art pieces in the common spaces and I think its going to add so much inspiration and pride in the community. The kids get to say, ‘I did that.'”
For more, see Caruso discuss his career as an artist as well as the Paint Park Village project in a short video.
OpenPath Investments is a “social impact real estate company,” which founded a program titled Urban Village.
According to the Community Program Director for Urban Village, Sara Mossman, “Urban Village is all about creating and facilitating pride in communities in these multi family properties.”
The objective of the program is to give people a sense of identity with where they live.
“The goal of Urban Village is to connect people to one another through community programs and also to connect people to where they live. A lot of people who live in apartment complexes don’t really feel a sense of home. At Urban Village, we are all looking for ways for people to feel that sense of home and belonging and that comes from feeling connected to the place that they call home and to the people that live around them,” Mossman said.
Mossman had visited Park Village Apartments on numerous occasions to promote the company and share what it offers with the residents. However, Saturday was the first time Urban Village hosted a mural painting project.
Mossman was prompted to choose this particular event due to her previous encounters with the residents. “Every time I go there I try to have an art or a craft program for the kids as part of the event that I’m hosting. And I’ve seen so much talent and creativity coming out of these children when they get their hands on some pens or paint. And so I thought well maybe it would be amazing to have some professional artists there so that the kids could get inspired that art could become a career and that they have a place to put their talents,” she said.
Mossman reached out to Mesa Urban Gardens to attain a list of local artists, where she came across muralist and graphic designer, Isaac Caruso.
Caruso was amongst the artists to participate in the Paint Park Village event.
Born and raised in Phoenix, Caruso began painting at 14 and started selling his work on Roosevelt at 16. His love of art eventually transpired into a career.
His love of art and murals was furthered by participating in a program that allowed him to live in hostels for free in exchange for a mural. His work now exists internationally.
“I got to do [murals in] Las Angeles, Las Vegas, and then also a few spots in Argentina and Uruguay,” Caruso said. “If its just a blank white wall, there’s no reason to not have art on it.”
Caruso’s work can also be found all over Phoenix, which he has featured on his personal website as well as Global Street Art.
His enthusiasm and passion for art rendered him the perfect candidate for Paint Park Village.
He met with the kids a week prior to starting the project to see what colors they liked and discuss ideas, as well as to get a feel for the area.
“He [Caruso] was so agreeable and so interested that he seemed like a natural fit and I’m really glad he decided to be a part of the team,” Mossman said.
Mossman concluded that “We [Urban Village] have a big emphasis on developing the common areas of these properties as places where people can naturally connect with each other . . . So now we have these beautiful art pieces in the common spaces and I think its going to add so much inspiration and pride in the community. The kids get to say, ‘I did that.'”
For more, see Caruso discuss his career as an artist as well as the Paint Park Village project in a short video.