Laura Patricia Calle Grant Winner Chiomma Hall Engages and Inspires Crawford Long Students

August 3, 2023 - Atlanta, GA - Laura Patricia Calle was a friend, a member of Living Walls, and an active member of the Atlanta community who promoted arts and culture and demonstrated that passion in her daily life. After Laura lost her life to kidney disease at the age of 26, Living Walls and the Calle family started the Laura Patricia Calle Grant to honor Laura's legacy through an annual call for artists to create murals in Atlanta that promote and inspire social equality.

Living Walls is an Atlanta-based organization that has been creating inclusive, intentional, thought-provoking public art to inspire social change since 2010, and offering this grant to Atlanta artists since 2017. Past Laura Patricia Calle Grant recipients include Danielle Deadwyler, Killamari, and Yehimi Cambrón. This year's Laura Patricia Calle Grant recipient, Chiomma Hall (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist and children's book illustrator based in Decatur, GA. Their work explores identity and connection via a practice of play and gentleness as a Black nonbinary femme in the South. Their mission is to bring chosen families and communities together for collective healing.

Chiomma's project, "Speak and We Will Listen," is a dynamic artistic endeavor aimed at promoting positive mental health and emotional resilience among Black youth at Crawford Long Middle School by engaging students in creating a mural at the school. With the help of Communities in Schools of Atlanta, the project will stand as a tribute to Laura's legacy of art, activism, and community building, inspiring future generations to embrace their voices, create positive change and preserve the spirit of Atlanta. Inspired by Faith Ringgold's Tar Beach, vibrant imagery of students soaring toward their dreams, engaging in rest, play, and reflection becomes a catalyst for personal growth, determination, and resilience. We invite students to be the artists and archivists of their own lives.

This mural will be in production from August 8-23, 2023, with an unveiling for the students and their families on August 31st.

Follow @livingwallsatl or email tatiana@livingwallsatl.com for more information.