Brightening the Neighborhood

A few blocks northeast of the University Park Campus, a 120-year-old house, once boarded up, now shines with freshly painted murals that bring a little vibrancy to Trojans’ commute. The front features a vivid image of multicolored hands releasing a bird into the air, and a simple greeting adorns the mural’s bottom-left corner: “Welcome to the Peace Garden.”

At the back of the house, another full mural of the California landscape stretches down the wall to cover the stairs. Mountains, rolling hills and clear skies sprawl across the back porch with a sprinkling of bears, mountain lions, squirrels and other animals found across the state. The backyard houses several raised garden beds filled with vegetables and native plants.

The mural and garden are part of the University Park Peace Garden Project, launched by the USC Mrs. T.H. Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy this past March to create “a flourishing urban garden in which educational, research and health programming can serve community needs.”

“Coming here is a breath of fresh air,” says muralist Daniella Leon, a junior in the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC Roski School of Art and Design. “Los Angeles is so crowded and fast-paced that just having a space to ground yourself is really important.”