Originally published at EastIdahoNews.com

REXBURG — The Family Crisis Center in Rexburg helps victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. Each year, the center holds an art gallery called “Healing Through the Arts of Survivors and Allies” to give the people they serve an outlet to process their experiences in a healthy way.

Inside the center at 16 East Main Street, the walls are lined with poetry and art — painful expressions of grief from victims of abuse, but also statements of strength and empowerment, and of knowing their inherent worth.

This year’s gallery open house is unique because the center will also be unveiling a new interactive art mural — the first of its kind in Idaho.

“Healing Through the Arts of Survivors and Allies” will be on display Friday from 3 to 7 p.m. It will include the big reveal of the interactive mural, created by artists Abi Cedillo and Mario Mondragon Matus. It will be the first mural in Idaho that works with augmented reality and comes alive when used with a specific social media filter.

Cedillo and Matus are Brigham Young University-Idaho students from Mexico who have benefited from the center’s food bank.

“Abi really really wanted to paint a mural for them because they have a food bank,” Matus says. “We usually go there, like, every two weeks, and we were pretty grateful to them.”

Matus says that needing the food bank’s help was a humbling and somewhat uncomfortable feeling early on. So, Matus and Cedillo decided to offer to brighten up the back entrance of the building, to help others feel more joy when coming to the Family Crisis Center for help.

“When we first went there, we really felt bad,” Matus says. “We didn’t have too much money, and that wasn’t something that felt good. … Having something pretty and nice there, for the people to go there and feel better, is something that we wanted.”

Matus says that besides bringing beauty to the food bank entrance, the mural also provides people with information on the services provided by the Family Crisis Center.

“They are pretty well known because of their food bank,” Matus says. “But they have different resources, so the mural shows them that they can come to the Family Crisis Center to get hope, healing, love and empowerment.”

Matus says instructions on how to use the special filters on Instagram and Facebook will be available at the open house, or those who want to try it out can go to the Family Crisis Center’s Instagram to get the filters. Using the filters, designed by Matus and Cedillo, makes the mural’s features come alive with movement, such as butterfly wings that flap.

“When you point your camera towards the mural, it is going to become interactive through augmented reality,” Matus says.

Matus and Cedillo will attend the open house this Friday, so those who come to see the new mural can talk with them and learn about the process and the inspiration behind the design. Matus says that two filters will be released on Friday, with three more to follow soon.

In addition to the food bank, the Family Crisis Center provides services to the community by offering referrals for counseling (including financial assistance when necessary), a sexual assault response exam room, a shelter for those who need a place to stay, and a thrift store where clients are able to get what they need for free. The thrift store is open to the public, and 100% of the proceeds are passed on to the center’s clients to help cover their needs. Donations are always welcome, and current specific needs include size 6 diapers, toothbrushesconditioner, new pillows, dryer sheets, kinetic sand, gas cards, lotion, body wash, Windex, toilet bowl cleaner and small paint canvases.

Adult Advocate Chantel McMullan says the center’s sexual assault exam room is the only one in the area and was made possible through an anonymous donation. The center also has an interview room where police can monitor interviews with victims, and McMullan says the center works closely with law enforcement agencies from Madison, Fremont, Jefferson and Clark counties.

McMullan says the Family Crisis Center is still accepting submissions for this weekend’s art gallery, and those who would like to contribute can bring their art to the center any time before the event.