MANSFIELD – Saturday’s Pride Festival will feature a one-of-a-kind work of art — a four-by-six-foot mosaic created by LGBTQ youth in Richland County.
The mural was created by students from Love on a Mission, a non-profit organization that offers programming and support for LGBTQ youth ages 12 to 18. It was funded through a Summertime Kids grant from the Richland County Foundation.
The mosaic depicts a garden bursting with flowers and butterflies. The sun shines in the top corner while ribbons in rainbow colors descend from the sky.
The project started with each student drawing a picture meant to express their identity to the community.
“It was cool. All of us were working on different parts at different times,” said Alex Moody, an 18-year-old member of LOAM.
“I think it might even be better than I was expecting. It’s really colorful and I think it absolutely represents pride.”
After the students completed their drawings, local artist Monica Hypes took elements from each piece and transferred them on to a four-by-six-foot piece of wood.
While overseeing the project, Hypes noticed a common theme emerge from the students’ work.
“All the kids started sketching stuff,” she said. “I walked around and almost every one of them was doing something that would have been in a garden.”
The title of the piece is “Rooted in Equality,” a statement Moody wrote on his sketch alongside a yellow flower.
“We were trying to come up with a theme and something in my head was like ‘Rooted in Equality’ because this is pride, this is about coming together,” he said.
Moody and some other students researched symbolism in the LGBTQ community, incorporating flowers that have historically represented the movement.
“I had two or three kids that came to me and told me, ‘We researched this and lavender has always represented pride,’ ” Hypes said.
LOAM founder and executive director Deena Pfahler added that butterflies can be representative of transformation — shedding the weight of society’s expectations and becoming one’s true self.
“Each piece is showing the beauty within them,” Pfahler said. “They are each unique and beautiful and each kid is a masterpiece.”
Once the final mural design was complete, students, volunteers, Hypes and Pfahler brought the garden to life with mortar and glass tiles. Creating the mosaic took about a month.
“It took a lot of hard work, sweat and our fingers are pretty tired,” Pfahler said.
The mosaic is mounted on a portable wood frame and will travel throughout the community this year, making its public debut at the gazebo during Mansfield’s Pride Parade and Festival on Saturday.
The piece will be on display again during the Mansfield Art and Culture Festival on Sept. 17 and at the Mansfield Art Center. Supporters will also be able to see the piece during the annual Love on a Mission fundraising gala in November.
“I’m so proud of it. It’s beautiful. Our kids are so creative, some of the art that they drew just astonished me. It’s amazing,” Pfahler said. “I’m really at a loss for words.”
Love on a Mission was founded in the fall of 2015 to offer support, advocacy and education to LGBTQ youth.
Pfahler described the group as a safe place for LGBTQ youth ages 12 to 18 to build friendships and build their own self esteem.
She said she’s spoken with many teens and adults who felt alone in their journey toward self-acceptance.
“I have a lot of parents reach out to me because their kid is struggling or needs a group of friends,” Pfahler said.
“I just want them to know that there is a community behind them here in Mansfield.”
The group currently meets weekly on Mondays at Grace Episcopal Church. According to Pfahler, there are about 20 students involved.
Moody joined LOAM in almost a year ago.
“I just moved here a year and a half ago and I was trying to make some friends,” he said.
“I’ve made a lot of close friends there. I feel like we’ve done really cool things for the community and for each other. It’s like a support system.”
