AMOpportunities, a Chicago-based company that provides international medical students and graduates with clinical training across the United States, and We All Live Here, a Chicago-based organization that creates art projects across the city, have partnered together to create a mural at A.N. Pritzker School in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago.

“We believe in a community that supports each other,” says Kyle Swinsky, CEO, AMOpportunities. “We believe in the importance of diversity and promote it however and whenever we can. This is why working with We All Live Here is so important to us. This mural is a symbol to children of the importance of acceptance, diversity and respect in all communities.”  

Research has shown that art helps build social networks, improve the expression of grief, create more positivity, support identity exploration, and decrease negativity, stress, and anxiety. Art brings communities together.  

“I was thrilled and honored to partner with AMOpportunities.” says Rich Alapack, founder of We All Live Here. “Their idea to bring foreign doctors to do their residencies in American hospitals that have staff shortages has so many positive benefits and couldn’t be any more in line with we all live here. The fact that we got to bring a new type of project to Pritzker featuring positive and inclusive words suggested by Pritzker students is just icing on the cake.”

The mural was unveiled on May 1 and coincided with an art event for the students of the school. The children, parents and community were all invited to collaborate on art projects that included creating artwork they thought represented diversity.