By Institute on Disabilities
3/30/23
Seven people in front of colorful mural with hand-lettered title #BetterTogether
YAC members in front of the mural with project staff Stephanie and Lisa.

In March 2023, the Institute installed a new mural, titled “Better Together,” just outside the office suite on the fourth floor of the Ritter Annex building on the main campus of Temple University.   

The mural was created by the Youth Advocacy Council (YAC), a program of the Institute. In September 2022, local high school students applied for this program and seven were selected to work together for several months. The YAC was tasked with collaborating on a singular project of their choosing, tackling an important issue of the day.  

The last YAC collaboration resulted in a zine about gun violence.  

For this iteration, the team decided to address a multitude of current issues under the banner “Better Together.” Each member created images, words, phrases and ideas on topics ranging from violence to disability pride and voting and collected them together with the final product being a large mural.  

On March 25, YAC members gathered to collaborate with students from the Tyler School of Art and Architecture to create posters from mural images and to view the final product on the wall.   

The photos show YAC members, along with project staff Stephanie and Lisa, standing in front of the mural and the YAC students working at Tyler’s printmaking space. As a final touch, they each signed the mural for posterity.

This project was made possible through an Impact Grant from the Philadelphia Foundation. The YAC is a collaboration with the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University. 

Person wearing apron has ink jars open and brightly colored ink added to a silkscreen, ready to squeegee Working in Tyler's printmaking space.

Person using squeegee to push black paint through a silkscreen Squeegee moves paint through a silkscreen.

Seven people in front of colorful mural with hand-lettered title #BetterTogether YAC members stand in front of the mural with project staff Stephanie and Lisa.