The Project: AHC Inc, in partnership with Sushmita Mazumdar and Studio PAUSE, will create a mural on the exterior wall(s) of The Shelton, an affordable housing community centrally located in the Green Valley neighborhood of Arlington. The mural will depict stories of residents of the neighborhood, displaying various aspects of the history of the Green Valley community.

AHC Inc.: With 23 apartment communities and its headquarters located in Arlington, AHC is a fixture in the community, having been founded there in 1975 to address the cost and scarcity of affordable housing. In addition to housing, AHC’s Resident Services (RS) Department provides programs that engage residents and enhance the quality of their lives for a brighter future. AHC has evolved from a nonprofit grassroots entity providing a home improvement program for low- and moderate-income homeowners in Arlington to a full-service organization whose low- and mixed-income housing communities serve Alexandria, Falls Church and Fairfax County in Virginia and Montgomery County and the Baltimore area in Maryland.

The Shelton is a four-story apartment community in the Green Valley neighborhood with 94 affordable apartments. The building opened in 2009 and includes a community center, landscaped courtyard with a play area and underground parking. 

Sushmita and Studio PAUSE have been serving the residents of Arlington since 2013, providing a space to develop community through art. Located in AHC’s Gates of Ballston, she has worked closely with AHC on numerous projects to bring people together through creative expression. She has had many commissions from Arlington Arts and has served as commissioner for the Virginia Commission for the Arts.

Grant: The team applied for an Arlington Arts P.L.A.C.E. grant for this project and were awarded it. Sushmita and her team will take the lead in engaging residents of The Shelton in telling their stories to determine how they want their experiences represented. The mural design will be developed and transferred to panels by Ken Krafchek, a mural artist and teacher. The panels will be placed in the community room of The Shelton to be painted by residents under the guidance of participating artists. The panels will then be installed on the exterior of the building to allow them to be viewed by all residing in and visiting Green Valley.

We Are Shelton: Stories from Our Front Porch - a community mural project is a pilot project (Stage 1) which will serve as an opportunity for planning and bringing together partners who can then work on Stage 2 of the We Are Shelton project developing and completing the 6 panels on the side of the building. Stage 3 would expand to the Macedonian and Fort Henry communities in the coming years.