Photo by Justin Criado.

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By Justin Criado

Area youth finished a huge original mural on the side of the Northside Coalition for Fair Housing (NCFH) building on 1821 Brighton Rd. last week in conjunction with the MLK Community Mural Project.

The organization provides at-risk youth summer jobs that requires them to brainstorm, create and paint a community mural.

The theme of the NCFH mural is “Breaking the Cycle,” which focuses on making positive life choices and not succumbing to peer pressure. Each person was responsible for coming up with a different theme.

“I really liked the whole theme,” 15-year-old Steven Bermudez said. “I really think it was a cool creative idea.

“I did ‘decisions’ because I feel like that’s a big thing. A lot of people make the wrong decisions and a lot of people make the right ones. I just want more people to make the right decisions.”

Artists Roberto “Mad Max” Maxwell and Wolfgang Mosaic oversaw the entire process, and said the positive outcome was more than just a pretty picture.

“You see these kids and they’re proud at the end,” Maxwell said. “They get in a program like this and it’s like they see they can do something with it.”

Maxwell is a local tattoo artist and this summer’s MLK Mural project was his first.

A Miami, Florida native, Mosaic has traveled all over the globe as an MLK Mural artist and appreciates the time he spends with kids and other artists.

“I feel like it’s not just a drawing on the wall,” Mosaic said. “They might not remember anything else, but they’ll remember they painted this. I feel like it’s us giving back to the world, giving back to society.”