Project Overview

Bearing Fruit | Memphis 3.0 | Orange Mound

Yancy Villa-Calvo’s collaborative mural project in Orange Mound is a continuation of her engagement efforts through the Memphis 3.0 comprehensive planning process. During her work in the Orange Mound neighborhood with Memphis 3.0, Yancy consistently heard from residents that landmarks projects that help identify the neighborhood were important. In 2019, with the support of the Assisi Foundation, she began working with students from RedZone Ministries and Melrose High School to research, design, and install a prominent mural on the side of a historic local business, Whitten Brothers Hardware. Yancy and her youth mural crew members met with the Orange Mound Centennial Committee, visited local businesses, and gathered input from residents at a series of workshops at Greater New Shiloh Baptist Church. Youth also participated in workshops, on topics like mural painting, public speaking, and community organizing. The team completed installation of the mural in early 2020.

Read more about the Orange Mound Mural Project in High Ground News:

Teens installing Orange Mound mural with focus on history and future (10/23/2019)

About the Artist

Yancy Villa-Calvo

Artist Yancy Villa-Calvo uses the power of art to promote the idea that we need to celebrate unity, diversity, and inclusion. Her multimedia work seeks to create awareness, provoke thought, and engage in a conversation on issues of social justice, equality, and shared prosperity. Her latest collaborative projects, GEMS Memphis 3.0 and the Barrier Free Art Installation, were developed through a process of deep engagement with underserved individuals and communities. Villa-Calvo's work has been recognized by grants and commissions from the Smithsonian Institute Latino Center, the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture, the Tennessee Arts Commission, ArtsMemphis, and UnidosUS, among others.

“The time to reflect, engage, and support is now.”