After reaching the 500 COLORFUL COMMUNITIES® project in October, our PPG employee volunteers continued to spread color and joy to their communities at revitalization projects taking place in November and December 2023. From South Carolina, U.S., to Shildon, UK and Shanghai, China, our volunteers, PPG paint products and passion for creating brighter communities carried on across the globe.
A bright end to 2023 with COLORFUL COMMUNITIES projects
“Last year, we reached a significant milestone with our 500 project, yet for the communities, neighbors and volunteers that participate, every project marks a significant moment,” said Malesia Dunn, executive director, PPG Foundation and corporate global social responsibility. “In the final months of 2023, our volunteers forged life-changing partnerships to identify and address real needs in their communities. Now, we’re off to a great start for projects in 2024.”
Read on to learn more about the transformational impacts of recent Colorful Communities projects.
United States and Canada
Together with Team Penske, 40 PPG volunteers helped beautify educational spaces at the Rock Hill Schools Applied Technology Center (ATC) in Rock Hill, S.C. The volunteers painted a hallway mural and brighten classrooms that focus on automotive service technology and collision repair and refinishing. The mural was designed by Osiris Rain Studios, international muralist and post-contemporary figurative painter, bringing together concepts of the school’s automotive programs.
Students in the automotive programs at the ATC also had the opportunity to hear from Austin Cindric, NASCAR Cup Series driver of the No. 2 Ford Mustang for Team Penske, and his pit crew, for a career talk about working in the racing industry. The ATC provides students the opportunity to use academic skills in a hands-on learning environment, for success after high school in college, technical/specialty school, or the workforce.
Europe, Middle East, Africa, French Overseas and Suriname
At the Jubilee Fields Community Centre in Shildon, UK, more than a dozen PPG volunteers spent two days beautifying the entire interior of the center with more than 75 gallons of JOHNSTONE’S TRADE™ paint by PPG. Muralist Lewis Hobson from public art specialist Durham Spray Paints worked with PPG volunteers on a mural that celebrates the history of Shildon as the birthplace of railways.
The Jubilee Fields Community Centre provides a range of services and activities for the local community, such as sports, fitness, education, health and wellbeing, and social events. The center aims to improve the quality of life and social inclusion of the residents of Shildon and the surrounding areas.
“The center is a vital part of the community in Shildon, offering a place for people of all ages and backgrounds to meet and socialize,” said Councillor Shirley Quinn, Mayor of Shildon. “Following Covid, there is a great need for interaction and people being comfortable in coming together to socialize. The center has been used and maintained well but was in desperate need of decorating and a general facelift. With PPG’s commitment, we can achieve this to improve services to the wider community.”
Asia Pacific
A project in Lianyang Community, Songjiang District, Shanghai, China brought together more than 50 volunteers from PPG’s Automotive Refinish, Architectural Coatings and Songjiang facility, and from the Lianyang Community as well, who spent more than 150 hours beautifying the community fences with colorful makeover.
The Lianyang Community, part of the Songjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone, is a large-scale “industrial to residential” community that consists of loads of apartments and shops. The project’s murals were designed in warm colors, echoing the style of the buildings around. The volunteers cleverly made the fences facing the main roads as four Internet-famous sites where people can take perfect snaps, and they are all highly interactive. The creative design is themed around beauty, interaction, and joy, and perfectly aligned with our commitment to ‘Protect and Beautify the World,’ creating a vibrant and artistic atmosphere for the community.