Stories of Strength mural for Willow Domestic Violence Center

Willow Domestic Violence Center Breaking the silence of abuse

Domestic violence is already a crisis in our community. Add the pandemic that forced people to be home 24/7 with their abusers and calls to Willow Domestic Violence Center’s crisis hotline increased by 50% over a six-month period.

To help Willow create a community that would one day be free from domestic violence, people needed to experience survivors’ stories. Stories that are too important, too big, for any temporary billboard. Advertising isn’t enough.

A public art project with a mission to heal

Rochester is a hub for public art. Public art that tells the hard stories while turning them into beacons of hope. But the issue of domestic violence hadn’t been explored here yet.

To get the attention domestic violence deserves, and give survivors the hope they deserve, we created a permanent, six-story tall mural on the most iconic building in the heart of Downtown Rochester.

Willow Stories of Strength social content

To do this, we engaged world-renowned muralist Sarah C. Rutherford. She met with four survivors from the community to ensure that their journeys were reflected in the art. After hearing these interviews, we knew this: The most honest way to tell survivors’ stories was in their own words, in their own voices. Our honestly creative approach transformed this mural into a monument of healing that is a purposeful experience you can spend minutes to hours with.

Stories of Strength uses an Instagram filter to take viewers through survivors’ journeys.

For survivors, hearing the voices and stories of other survivors becomes a way to regain a sense of hope as well as learn about the vital resources available to them. For our community, it’s an unavoidable message that domestic violence is a public crisis that needs our attention, our compassion and our action.

Willow Domestic Violence Center AR Filter

Creating an emotional experienceUsing this QR code, visitors can download the Instagram experience to their phone.

Creating an emotional experience
Instagram Filter
Survivor Story

The Stories of Strength website shares the survivors’ stories for those unable to visit the mural in person. It also provides behind-the-scenes content from the CEO of Willow and from the artist, Sarah C. Rutherford. Lastly, it gives people more information about Willow’s services for survivors.

Since its creation, Stories of Strength has become a staple within the vibrant public art community in Rochester and it serves as a behemoth reminder that domestic violence is in our community, but healing is possible.