Teen Central Mural: Stop No. 4

The Story

Teen Central is a non-profit organization that provides spiritual development and quality life experiences for the youth of Manheim. In 2023, they overhauled the exterior of their building at 15 South Wolf Street. You can see the extreme makeover that took place in the photo gallery below. As part of the renovations, they reached out to Horst Arts Center about the creation of a custom mural on the main wall.

Teen Central provided three main requirements: they wanted to celebrate the activities that happen at their facility on a weekly basis, they wanted a cross included, they wanted to represent growth, and they wanted to incorporate the colors from their logo—green, orange, and purple.

As a result, the mural features sports, art, bicycle repair, gardening and, most importantly, food—teens like to eat! The bold greens, oranges, and purples were added but the background of the mural was left as the raw stucco in order to keep those bright colors from becoming overwhelming. Finally, a cross was integrated as part of the limb structure of the central tree.

Growth was illustrated by showing both a sapling and a full-grown tree—both rooted in the open Bible. Plus the imagery of seeds was incorporated into the fun horizontal lines which represent both the earth and the lives of the children.

While the mural assists with branding the organization, more importantly it helps creates a welcoming, beautiful space for the teens of Manheim.