Gemstone Mural

The Gemstone Mural was created by the youth at Gemstone with the help of Roger Whiting a local artist. Roger came and met with the youth and used their ideas to conceptualize what the youth wanted to create. Roger worked with the youth and staff of Gemstone about twice a week for about two months on this project. The youth wanted to showcase the metamorphosis of a butterfly (Caterpillar, Coccon, Butterfly) which represents the ablility with in each of us to grow and change in our lives and become something better. Roger mentioned that one of the youth could draw skeletons, and he thought that was a great symbol for the inner beauty we all have inside of us. The quote from Carl Jung “The priviledge of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” encourages us all to become something new.

The flowers represent how Gemstone and DSI provide the inner food and beauty that are needed to sustain the youth while they are growing. The skeletons are all in active poses showing how staying engaged in positive activities keeps us moving in the right direction.

You can look at the mural and draw your own interpretations. The overall feeling of the work is bright, colorful, and positive, which is a message to both future youth and staff of the center to keep a good attitude during the process of overcoming challenges.