(tranquil intro jingle) (smooth guitar music) - A crosswalk mural or a slip lane mural is really meant to slow down traffic.

(car horn honking) This is one of the areas that's really highly trafficked in the south side of Milwaukee and there's a lot of accidents here all the time.

We hear from neighbors and residents all alike.

So today we are installing a slip lane mural as part of a street safety initiative.

(smooth guitar music continues) The city actually came out with an application for this kind of project, it's called Paint the Pavement and it makes it really easy for anyone to do a project like this.

It could be an individual artist, it could be an organization, it could be a committee, or a neighborhood group, a group of friends.

But essentially they have their own restrictions too on what we can and can't paint, just so that it doesn't distract the cars.

Specifically with like really, really bright colors that would look similar to traffic markings or any words or symbols and other stuff like that.

But this design was really meant as like a homage to people and individuals who have passed away from reckless driving accidents.

So we have a character who represents just kind of the strength and like empowering sentiments that we wanna create in these spaces.

And then we have a hummingbird on the other side that also is kind of like a skeleton.

So that's the hummingbird in Mexican culture is representative of a fallen warrior, specifically an Azteca culture.

So I kind of wanted to paint homage to the cultures that are here that we can find around the neighborhood and acknowledging that too, but still make it more as a celebration, as a way that we can change our own behaviors and come together to address this issue.

(smooth guitar music continues) Paint pavement has certain, just guidelines that can help the group create something like this.

So we have to use like exterior porch or floor paint.

We have to add some sort of skid additive that will help with the traction for like bikes and cars.

It also has to be primed.

We primed it double this time so that it lasts a little bit longer, or at least we hope so.

And then it has to be sealed too.

(smooth guitar music continues) I think pavement art is just a way that we can bring arts and bring like beautification projects to our neighborhoods.

It's just kind of like taking advantages of the things that we have and the assets that we do have.

And just going about creatively, like writing a message on there in a form of a design or a symbol can be really meaningful to a lot of places.

And if we can bring beautification efforts to areas that are likely not to have it or not have it be funded as a priority, then that's very important.

(smooth guitar music continues) I put it out on social media if anybody wanted to come and help me, and this is literally just my immediate group of friends and they all said yes.

It honestly makes me feel so happy.

I love being able to share like my own thoughts and my own just style to anybody that I can, especially if it's gonna spark some sort of conversation or reflection.

I think that's the most important part for me.

I also love being able to share my culture and just kind of my roots, where I came from in the design itself.

It's acknowledging that but also where I am implementing it is reflecting that too.

So I grew up in the area, so it makes me heal.

Feel very, very happy that I'm able to do this as a project of my own, in a place that I call home.

It's really, really meaningful.

(smooth guitar music continues) (tranquil outro jingle)