A simple black and white hand with two fingers in the air in a peace sign recently painted on a wall along Milwaukee Avenue in Logan Square comes with a powerful message: stop gun violence. The artist, Kyle Holbrook, started painting peace murals in 2018, as part of the National Tour to Combat Gun Violence. He wants the work to be simple, contemporary street art, similar to Banksy pieces, he said. Holbrook hopes the simplicity will keep the message clear, easy to understand and at the forefront of people’s mind. He said he worries the gun problem in America has led people to become desensitized to the violence. The 4 by 8 foot mural is at 2252 N. Milwaukee Ave., just east of California Avenue. Holbrook, 42, wants it to inspire people to talk about solutions to gun violence, both through public policy and community organizing, he said. The murals are small so people will be more likely to take selfies and spread the message of peace, Holbrook said. “I’ve always been interested in using art for social means, you know, to say something larger about society,” he said. Holbrook grew up in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, a borough about seven miles outside of downtown Pittsburgh where gun violence, crime and gang activity were prevalent. Holbrook said he’s known more than 40 people, including some close friends, lost to gun violence. “I know about the pain that people feel,” Holbrook said. “And people go through a mourning period and then they try and find ways to distract themselves, so that they can go on with everyday life.” When he was 14, a friend he used to play basketball with was killed. He lost more friends in his teenage years, into his 20s and up until earlier this year. Art has helped him cope with the losses. “That’s kind of my therapy,” he said. “It’s my job but also helps me kind of heal.” Holbrook admits he got into trouble growing up, got kicked out of a couple high schools and sometimes felt like the only way to be safe outside was to become involved with street gangs. “Art was my outlet,” he said. His parents, both teachers, encouraged him to follow his passion. He attended art classes every Saturday at Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, a program through Carnegie Mellon University. In 2002, Holbrook founded the Moving the Lives of Kids Community Mural Project, or MLK Mural Project, where children and youths can be part of something positive through public art programs. “It’s all about utilizing public art to educate, inspire and enhance communities,” he said of the program. Through the program, children collaborate in art projects across the U.S. The Rev. Marcus Harvey met Holbrook at a gazebo next to a nonprofit Harvey ran in Wilkinsburg. At the time, Holbrook was working on a mural that surrounded the gazebo, covering almost five walls of the surrounding buildings. The mural is still there, and it tells a story of the neighborhood, Harvey said. Holbrook had help from a couple of friends on that mural, but he was looking for more community residents to assist him as he worked almost around the clock, Harvey said. People started to bring their cars and turn on their high beams to help Holbrook keep painting after sunset, Harvey said. He said that mural project kept youths busy and prevented shootings in a neighborhood that saw a lot of gun violence. “I could not believe a paintbrush could stop a gun from firing,” Harvey said. “And that’s what happened that summer.” Harvey is now the board president of the MLK Mural Project. The project is sponsoring his current peace murals tour. He started the tour in 2018 and decided to take it overseas. He painted a hand peace sign in Melbourne, Australia, in purple with some orange and white. Another peace mural is in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2019, he traveled around the West Coast painting peace murals but stopped during the pandemic. His most recent stop was in Chicago, where he hopes residents and tourists spending the day in Logan Square will think about rising gun violence in the city and across the country. scasanova@chicagotribune.com - Chicago Tribune