Our Shared Home
Project Partners : Mandala Arts (Chicago) | Art of Inclusion (Naperville)
Funded by: Special Events and Community Arts Commission (SECA)
Location: Naperville Township Building (139 Water St., Naperville, IL 60540)
Organizing Team : Pranita Nayar (Artistic Director, Mandala Arts) | Tony Andrews (Co-Chairman, Art of Inclusion) | Saily Joshi (Community Engagement Specialist)
Lead Artist: Ashmi Mridul
Artistic Support: Carole Stone Carson
On the prairie green of Naperville’s historic landscape flows the DuPage River. Rooted in it is an ever-changing community of residents. Through years of conflict and chaos, new groups uprooting the old, have left permanent cracks in the city’s history. After years of segregation, the community, weighed down by the struggle for inclusion, slowly began to foster change and connection. With a warm embrace and open arms, the people of Naperville finally create a shared home for all.
Our Shared Home is a community mural co-created with over 70 residents of Naperville. Developed as part of Mandala Arts’ larger initiative celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Immigration and Nationality Act, this project grounds the national narrative in the local context of Naperville.
With a history marked by segregation and discrimination, Naperville has, over time, transformed into a vibrant, multicultural city shaped by the resilience and struggle of its people. By bringing diverse communities together through creative placemaking, this mural celebrates the city’s rich cultural fabric and shared future.
The project unfolded over three weeks and included a series of four workshops where community members reflected on their ideas of home and belonging, brainstormed ideas for the mural, and, through multiple iterations, arrived at the final concept. The community chose colors and created symbolic and abstract drawings to form a visual language for the mural. Roots were chosen as the central symbol and metaphor for home. Within its form are hidden the many emotions and associations shared by participants— conflict, chaos, warmth, comfort, hard work, welcome — reflecting both the meaning of home and the story of their city, Naperville. The mural was painted by community members over two days.
COMMUNITY MEMBERS:
Amy Phillips, Ananya Singh & Ritu Rana, Andrea Beaty, Anne Soto, Anu Verma, Aparna Vootkur, Ashfaq Syed, Benny White, Bernadette Young, Caroĺe Stone Carson, Carolina Zavala, Christine Stephens, Dawn Portner, Diana Piedra, Fazeetha Rahman, Gautam Bhatia, Ghadeer Yacoub, Gunjan Srivastava, Jaishree Nagaraj, Janice F Guider, Jeanne Schultz Angel, Jelena Sanchez, Jen Hall, Karen V. Peck, Karuna Kukreja, Katherine Bottarelli, Katie Long Piper, Kay Choi, Keith Nguyen, Kimberly White, Laura Bawadhankar, Lili Burciaga, Linda Davenport, Loni Sharma, Maliha Sayla, Manisha Singhania, Mansi Hans, Mark Rising, Mustafa Bukhari, Nadia Shakil, Natalie Garcia, Natasha Grover, Neeny Marquez, Nilesh Kothari, Padmaja Sunkara, Pallavi Jain, Pallavi Wagh, Paula Deacon Garcia, Peggy Frank, Pranvi Kakkar, Ramya Roddom, Richa Jain, Roger Chawla, Roopa Rajaram, Roshni Grover, Rupal Soni, Saily Joshi, Sangeeta Pande, Shaili Salgia, Sharmila Fowler, Sheri Rubin, Sophia Luo, Stacey Montgomery, Stacie Haen-Darden, Steve Rubin, Sue Howell, Sunita Patel, Theo Darden, Tony Andrews, Yusur Bukhari
SPECIAL THANKS:
Eddie Bedford (Installation Space)
Dawn Porter (Painting Space)
Dave Della Terza (Workshop Space)
Carole Stone Carson & Sangeeta Pande (Varnishing)
Sergiy (Installation)
DONORS:
Legacy: Naperville Township (in-kind), Special Events and Community Arts Commission
Building Bridges: Chawla and Associates
Roots and Dreams: Anne Soto, Ross-Tandon
Cultural Threads: Alliance of Latinos Motivating Action in the Suburbs, Amy Coffman, Benny and Kim White, Indian Harvest (in-kind), Jeffery Sachs, Naperville Neighbors United, Senator Laura Ellman
Special Shoutouts: Carolina Zavala, Laura Bawadhankar, Natasha Grover
