← All projects Project No. 1 · 2026 · Launch year

From Seed to Bloom

A mural at 825 E Johnson St in Madison, painted by seventeen young people alongside professional artists, in collaboration with DAMA — Developing Artist Murals and Alliances. It was the project The Bloom Project launched with.

The finished mural at 825 E Johnson St: five painted panels of lotus flowers on a teal ground, mounted above the storefront windows.
The finished wall at 825 E Johnson St. Watering cans at both ends, pouring inward — growth moves toward the middle.
The hope

That anyone walking past would feel joy

I wanted anyone walking past — even for just one second — to feel a spark of joy. A quiet reminder that they are seen. That they are held. And that they belong right here in Madison.

Emily and our seventeen brilliant interns didn’t just meet that goal. They blew it out of the water.

Marina D C Zalewski, at the mural dedication

Under the guidance of local artist Emily Larson Rodriguez at DAMA headquarters, seventeen young people aged 14–17 earned a paid wage ($15/hr) to learn, design, and paint alongside the pros. Together they created a public mural that blossoms, panel by panel, from seed to bloom — so much more than paint. It is about equipping kids with real-world skills, teamwork, and the confidence to make their own corners of the world a little sweeter.

  • Where 825 E Johnson St, Madison, Wisconsin
  • When Summer 2026, dedicated that autumn
  • Who painted it Seventeen young people aged 14–17, paid $15/hr through DAMA’s Youth Apprenticeship Summer Program
  • Lead artist Emily Larson Rodriguez, at DAMA headquarters on Allis Ave
  • The design Panels reading seed to bloom, with watering cans at both ends pouring inward
The idea

A story about a seed

A seed goes into the dirt, and somehow it finds what it needs to grow and to bloom. But that seed was never alone. There was always someone pouring water into the earth — and this summer, the people holding the watering cans were everywhere.

We might not always see who is holding the watering can. But we know they are there. The seed blooms the moment she realizes she belongs.

How it got made

From a conversation to a wall

It happened in order, over one summer, and almost none of it happened alone.

  1. First

    A conversation about the vision

    We went to DAMA headquarters to talk with the artists about what this wall could be and who it was for — and then got out of their way.

  2. Then

    Three designs, and a choice

    They came back with three. One was chosen, and it became the thing that stands on E Johnson today: panels reading seed to bloom, with watering cans at both ends pouring inward, so growth moves toward the middle.

    The chosen design: a lotus growing from seed to full bloom across five panels on a pale blue ground, with a watering can pouring in from each end.
    The design that won — seed to bloom, read from the outside in.
    An alternative proposal mocked up on the building: five panels of bright geometric mandala-style flowers on a pale blue ground.
    Proposal: mandala flowers.
    An alternative proposal mocked up on the building: five panels of raised animal paws on orange, yellow, turquoise, green and blue grounds.
    Proposal: raised paws — a nod to the dog daycare below.
    The chosen design mocked up above the storefront at 825 E Johnson St.
    The winner, mocked up on the building.
  3. Then

    Warner Park, and an open invitation

    The blank panels went to Parks Alive at Warner Park, where the neighbourhood was invited to paint the background with us. Anyone who wanted a brush got one. We wore shirts printed with hi in fifteen of the languages spoken across Dane County, so the invitation would reach people before we did.

    The t-shirt front print: the Bloom lotus mark above the words the bloom project, planting seeds of joy, inthegarden.org.
    The shirt, front.
    The t-shirt back print: Hi at the centre in large pink letters, surrounded by greetings in fifteen languages.
    And back — hi in fifteen of the languages spoken across Dane County.
    The back of a white project t-shirt printed with greetings in many languages, worn at the paint day.
    The same shirt, doing its job at Warner Park.
    People of all ages leaning over a long panel on trestle tables in a park, brushing blue paint across it.
    Laying in the sky, one brush at a time.
    A crowd of young people and adults around two long tables, painting the blue background of the mural panels.
    Interns and neighbours, side by side.
    Children reaching across a panel with brushes while adults steady it, a park full of people behind them.
    No experience required.
    A large group gathered around the painting tables under trees at Warner Park, the hand-painted project sign propped at the end.
    The sign propped at the end of the table, telling people what it was for.
    A row of interns in the multilingual project shirts leaning over a panel, laying blue paint across it.
    The shirts at work, down the length of a panel.
    Project shirts being handed out from a cardboard box to a line of young people at the park.
    Shirts going out to the crew.
  4. Then

    Finishing at DAMA headquarters

    The detail work went back to the studio on Allis Ave — the flowers, the line work, and the hundred small decisions that turn a painted background into a mural.

    Five mural panels pinned along the studio wall in progress, lotus flowers painted on teal and blue grounds, paint carts and pots in the foreground.
    All five panels up on the studio wall, in progress.
    A finished panel propped on a wooden frame: a lotus flower in white, magenta and yellow on a bright blue ground.
    One panel, finished and drying.
    The exterior of DAMA headquarters on Allis Avenue, a low blue and black building with its sign above the door.
    DAMA headquarters on Allis Ave.
    Inside the DAMA studio: a hand-painted WELCOME sign on a blue sky mural above a supply cart.
    Inside the studio. The welcome on that wall is DAMA’s own.
    A hand-painted sign reading DAMA + Bloom Project Mural, 825 E Johnson, with a lotus flower painted beside the lettering.
    The hand-painted sign that travelled with the project.
  5. Then

    Getting the wall ready

    Before anything could go up, the concrete had to be clean. A crew came with pressure washers, and Dog Haus University next door lent us their spigot for the water. Two days of disturbance on their doorstep, and not one complaint.

  6. Finally

    The wall goes up

    Emily Larson Rodriguez and Veronica Figueroa Velez primed the wall and set the mural fabric permanently on E Johnson. That was the moment it stopped being a project and started being part of the street.

    The full storefront at 825 E Johnson St seen from the pavement, the finished mural running in a band above the windows.
    825 E Johnson St, with the mural in place.
Credit

The artists

Every person who designed and painted From Seed to Bloom. Names appear exactly as each artist asked to be credited.

The project team outside DAMA headquarters, standing and kneeling in two rows against the building.
The day we came to talk through the vision for the project with the artists. They went away and came back with three designs.
The youth apprentice cohort outside DAMA headquarters, arms around each other in matching DAMA Youth Apprentice shirts.
The 2026 DAMA Youth Apprentice cohort.
Youth artists · ages 14–17
  • Airries
  • Anlix Rojas
  • Dahana W.C.
  • Delilah S.
  • Genesis Hernandez
  • Hannane G.
  • Javier M.
  • Juan C. Ortiz
  • Laurielle B.
  • Marlene Tamayo
  • Melanie H.
  • Oliver Taylor
  • Ruth B.
  • Sheila T.
  • Sofia Garcia
  • Teresa Gamón
  • Umesh M.
Young adult assistant artists · ages 18–22
  • Demell Glenn
  • Jonny Escobar Holguin
  • Kylie Anderson
Mentors and staff
  • Emily Larson Rodriguez Lead artist
  • Lesli Ann Youth mentor
  • Veronica Figueroa Velez
Thank you

Who held the watering cans

We didn’t do this alone. It took all of us.

A seed is never alone — there is always someone pouring water into the earth. With thanks to DAMA and lead artist Emily Larson Rodriguez; the seventeen artists who painted it; Zaliuski LLC, our donors and our grantors; the crew who pressure-washed the concrete before we started; Dog Haus University next door, who lent us their spigot for the water and put up with two days of disturbance; and everyone who picked up a brush at Warner Park.

Dedicated to every neighbour who calls Madison home.

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