Youth shelter puts love and hope into outdoor art
Something new has been added to the Laguna Beach Youth Shelter on Catalina Street, and it was created with care, dedication and the help of the children temporarily housed at the facility.
A mosaic made of hand-painted tiles that spell out the words “love” and “hope” now adorns the street-facing wall of the shelter.
“Almost every project I do with them, they put the words ‘love’ and ‘hope’ in,” said artist Gretchen Shannon, the brainchild of the project, who was on hand Saturday to watch local contractor James Nassios install the 24-by-57-inch mosaic.
Shannon, a professional artist and Laguna Beach resident, hand-painted several of the 100 to 150 irregularly shaped tiles that make up the piece, which was initially intended for a school in Philadelphia.
The artist was working on the idea in 2008 when she lived in Elverson, Pa., a town between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. Shannon had been teaching art and storytelling to inner-city students when she was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts to create the mosaic, titled “You Are a Shining Star.”
But not long after starting on the piece, Shannon was diagnosed with breast cancer, and the project was put on hold. She moved to Laguna Beach in 2009 and kept the tiles while waiting for the opportunity to put them to use.
She found her chance after working on art projects with children at the shelter. With her cancer in remission, she approached the shelter about the mosaic and got the answer she hoped for.
Laguna Outreach for Community Arts donors contributed $493 toward the project, while LOCA board President Carol Meberg and Shannon’s husband, Terry, pitched in $125 each for the installation.
Shannon and Meberg supervised children in April and May as they assembled the mosaic. Kids placed tiles bearing images of flowers, moons and stars into a cement base.
Every night, the unfinished project would be stored in a shed at the youth shelter. After a couple of months, Nassios was drilling 3-inch holes into stone and placing screws to secure the mosaic, putting the finishing touches on the shelter’s first permanent outdoor art installation.
The youth shelter offers temporary housing for six kids ages 11 to 17 who are at risk of homelessness, incarceration or hospitalization. Santa Ana-based Community Service Programs operates the Laguna Beach shelter, along with a 12-bed facility in Huntington Beach.
Children stay at the shelter on average two to four weeks, but Laguna Beach Youth Shelter Director Carol Carlson said she thinks the mosaic will provide a lasting memory.
“This one is a lasting symbol of the mutual love and hope that LOCA and the CSP Youth Shelter share for children arriving at our home for care,” Carlson wrote in an email. “We are so incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to display this where others can also see the heartfelt message.”