We Are Royale recently partnered with community-based public art organization Artolution to create an animated AR mural featuring the artwork of 15 refugee children and teens from Central America. The project provided an educational and therapeutic experience for the children, who are clients of KIND (Kids in Need of Defense), a non-profit that provides pro-bono legal services to unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children.
The mural experience, which launched yesterday, is located on the Key Food supermarket on Avenue A in New York City's East Village. Visitors can simply launch the app and hold their smartphones up to view the mural, and the characters in the artwork will emerge from the wall, moving and dancing.
"This creative platform that the project has given these young people is especially important given the challenges that they've faced fleeing from violence and conflict, and starting over in a new country," commented Artolution co-founder Joel Bergner. "It's critical that we create these opportunities for displaced children to build community, shape their own narratives, and begin the healing process after the trauma they've experienced. The arts and technology are powerful tools to achieve this."
Image: Courtesy of We Are Royale