“You Are Beautiful is the little sticker that started a worldwide phenomenon. This message, spread by the community, has touched lives on every continent in the world.”
On Friday, archi-treasures collaborated with students at Roberto Clemente Academy and artist Matthew Hoffman to install “YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.” The sign is located along the school’s tennis courts on the south end of Division Street in Humboldt Park. Joyce Fernandes, Executive Director of archi-treasures: “You Are Beautiful is a 10 year long, 
international project by Chicago artist Matthew Hoffman. In 2011, he created a huge “You Are Beautiful” sculpture, inspired by the famous Hollywood sign in California. The piece was displayed at the Morton Arboretum and then was purchased by the Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce. They hoped to install the artwork in their area and began negotiations with Roberto Clemente High School as a potential site. Preliminary discussions led to the idea that students could be involved in repainting the sculpture for its new location and archi-treasures was invited to develop workshops in summer 2012. Beginning with a tour of public art and murals in Humboldt Park and a presentation on street art around the world, the students then brainstormed ideas for a refurbishment of the sculpture. In the end they decided to paint the sculpture Clemente’s school colors, yellow and blue, with the idea of sending a positive message to the public about the School and its students.” One Clemente student who worked on the project summed it up in these words,”It reflects the school because it has such a negative reputation, and the people in it must have something wrong with them if they go there. No matter if the school has a bad reputation, it still has beautiful people in it and shows its beauty in its own way. It reflects the community as well… They work hard to keep their neighborhood beautiful and what better way to show its beauty than by adding a direct statement saying, “you are beautiful.”
See more photos on Facebook by Archi-treasures.
Learn how you can be part of the movement at you-are-beautiful.com and learn more about architreasures at www.architreasures.org.
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