A new mural promoting community values has brought a dash of colour to a Pembroke roadside.

Shanna Hollis is putting the finishing touches to Love Thy Neighbour, a painting on Palmetto Road that became a community project.

“For the most part it’s seemed to have a positive impact, which I like, she said.

“Some people give donations of water or food when they see us out here.”

Ms Hollis created the mural for Run for the Arts, a 5km run through North East Hamilton hosted by the Bermuda National Gallery and sponsored by Chubb.

She wanted her work to carry a message of unity, particularly in light of the island’s spate of violence last summer.

“After all the things that have happened in our community and continue to happen in our community, I wanted it to be a call-out for people to stop, pause and breathe.”

She added that the theme of neighbourly love was reflected in the mural’s use of Bermuda roofs, which symbolised how empathy was learnt at home.

Love Thy Neighbour evolved into a neighbourhood project, with its undercoat applied by the Palmetto Road community.

“It was cool because I had grandmothers bringing their granddaughters. I had my students and my neighbours come out,” said Ms Hollis.

“I met different men who came out and said they were also talented in the arts, or painters by trade, who came and did something for the mural.”

Ms Hollis's favourite aspect of the community art project was meeting seniors who told her the history of the neighbourhood.

She said that it was nice to see people come together and build the “community feel”.

Ms Hollis even saw the neighbourhood’s mood change as the work progressed.

“There are runners who run by every lunchtime and in the morning and they’re always praising it and saying ‘great job on the mural’,” she explained.

“Everybody came by just to say that they liked what was going on.”

Ms Hollis helped create a mural dedicated to Dame Flora Duffy at the General Post Office in Hamilton. She also painted a mural in St George’s recounting the history of the Olde Towne.

She is completing “very minor touches” on Love Thy Neighbour and expects it to be finished by the end of the week. She wants passers-by to take the piece’s meaning to heart.

Ms Hollis said: “Everybody needs to remember to go about every day treating people how you want to be treated.

“Just as people don’t know what’s going on in your life, you don’t know what’s going on in theirs.

“We just need to have a little bit more care and a little bit more love in the way we treat each other.”