The Mystic River Mural Project is a summer program that engages low-income Somerville teens in learning about the Mystic River and its watershed in order to influence their awareness of and behavior towards the river. Although several of Somerville’s poorest communities are only a few blocks from the river, they are separated from it by Interstate 93. Many area residents are unaware that a river is nearby; others are recent immigrants from places where rivers are routinely polluted or responsible for flooding and they instinctively avoid or even fear the river. For many years residents even used the river as a dumping ground. In the 14 years since the Mystic River Mural Project’s inception, however, more than half a generation of young people, their friends, family members and neighbors have learned to respect the river, recognize it as a valuable resource, and enjoy the opportunities it provides for recreation, exercise, education and enrichment. As a result, the river has become cleaner and more people than ever are utilizing it effectively. But Somerville is a city of immigrants; every year new people move next to the river and so the process of orienting them to the river and its riches must continue. The Mystic River Mural Project takes place during July and August, twenty hours a week, for six weeks. Under the direction of a professional environmental educator and a mural artist/project director, 7-10 low-income youth explore the Mystic River watershed through guided hikes and canoe trips through which they learn first-hand about the local plant, bird and animal life. Workshops with volunteer environmental educators and historians help the youth to understand the river’s history and environmental significance. As the youth become more aware of the local environment and their role in its preservation, they identify a theme and translate their expanded knowledge into a visual product—typically nine 4’ x 8’ mural panels to adorn the retainer wall of I-93 along Mystic Avenue. The panels provide the community with a large-format “annual update” on life on the river. There are 30 half-day meetings between the teens, staff and consultants during the program. Typically, the schedule includes 7 hikes and canoe trips, 4 environmental workshops and 19 meetings for sketching, photographing and painting. Often at the end of the six weeks, youth volunteer more time to put finishing touches on the mural. During Summer 2011, the Mystic River Mural Project will feature an expanded community outreach role as part of a City initiative to connect more Somerville residents and the Greater Boston public with the Mystic River. The initiative, funded by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, will include renovations to the City-owned Blessing of the Bay Boathouse to make it more accessible and visible, and creation of a new pedestrian route between the heavily-used Foss Park, through the Mystic Housing Development to the Boathouse. Youth participants in the Mystic River Mural Project will focus on a “History of the Mystic River” theme, and contribute mural panels and wayfinding signs that attract, inform and guide drivers, bikers and pedestrians to the Boathouse and riverside footpaths, and thus have an even broader and farther-reaching community impact than ever before. _Program Goals:_ 1. To develop teens’ awareness of and connection to the Mystic River as a local resource and an exemplar of broader ecological concerns. 2. To develop teens’ communication, cognitive, and social skills and foster creative responses to community issues. 3. To empower teens to take a leadership role in improving their community and supporting the revitalization of important community resources. 4. To enhance youth’s self-esteem and sense of responsibility through the pursuit of challenging but achievable goals. 5. To build teens’ capacity, and by extension that of their communities’, for meaningful, sustained participation in the life of the Mystic River and in ecologic issues affecting Somerville. 6. To keep Somerville residents aware of the Mystic River through daily encounters with the mural along Mystic Avenue and the I-93 deck, and with wayfinding signs that guide residents and others underneath I-93 to the river. 7. To introduce teens to career options relating to the arts and environmental resource management.