Core 4

The HI New Orleans Hostel commissioned YAM to create two murals for its lobby and café that would educate their national and international travelers about the under-told stories of New Orleans. HI USA is a network of hostels that believes in the power of travel to foster a deeper understanding of people, places and cultures for a more tolerant world. When they opened their new location in New Orleans, they wanted to decorate the space with murals that reflected the city.

The HI New Orleans Hostel mural project was YAM’s first private commission. Through the project, our youth artists gained exposure to real-world client work while learning from our lead artists about their creative practice. YAM worked closely with the HI New Orleans Hostel team to identify themes for the murals. The design process involved neighborhood conversations, design workshops, and inspiration from the Paper Monuments’ public art and history project.

The café mural led by Kristen Downing commemorates the high-profile lunch counter sit-ins led by the New Orleans chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) to protest racial segregation. The mural depicts the arrest of Oretha Castle Haley and three fellow CORE civil rights activists – Cecil Carter, Sydney Goldfinch and Rudy Lombard – at the McCrory’s lunch counter sit-in on September 17, 1960, a historic moment that took place just across the street from where the hostel now stands on Canal St. The artists chose to intentionally leave the faces in the mural without expression, allowing the viewer to imagine themselves in that person’s place.

Artists: Kristen Downing (Lead Artist Mentor), Shanti Broom, Elijah Turk, Sly Watts, Nathalie Figueroa, Victoria Phan, Raven Sandoval, Kiyah Simmons, Sofia Olexia-Daigle, Skye McQuirter, Halle Parker, Justin Parker, Kiyah Simmons, and Mariah Williams