Key Food Stores Co-Operative Inc., a chain of primarily independently owned and corporate grocery stores, revealed that the Man-Dell Group Key Food located at 52 Avenue A in Manhattan, New York, will launch the augmented reality (AR) component of its new mural on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 5 p.m.
Earlier this summer, Key Food teamed up with Artolution, an international, community-based public art initiative based in New York City that has partnered with organizations such as KIND.org, Save the Children, UNICEF and The Anti-Defamation League, amongst others, to create a mural with youth that promotes positive social change, as well as reconciliation and healing through collaborative art making.
The Man-Dell Group and Key Food say they have worked to create stores that reflect New York’s positive urban values for more than 80 years. With the help of this mural, both companies hope to communicate their longstanding traditions of welcoming diversity, encouraging inclusiveness and respecting minorities to customers and the surrounding communities.
Teenage clients of the nonprofit organization KIND (Kids in Need of Defense) worked with artists to design and paint a large-scale public mural to reflect their experiences. Artolution and the teenagers have also teamed up with We Are Royale, a West Coast-based creative and digital company, to design and build an augmented reality app that will enable visitors to view animations highlighting the stories of the youth, their life struggles and their dreams for the future in an innovative and interactive way.
