In Fields Corner, art with purpose

Supported by the Boston Regional Census Center, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, Artists for Humanity, and Fields Corner Main Street, the mural was conceived as a way to create awareness about the importance of the 2010 census and beautify the community, said Kathleen Ludgate, director of Boston Regional Census Center.

An elongated version of the Boston Regional Census Center’s logo, the mural is of large, colorful hands interwoven with the message “Everyone Counts’’ in five languages - English, Vietnamese, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Cape Verdean Creole.

“We used other languages because they are the other four prevalent languages spoken in the community,’’ said Norman Eng, a partnership specialist with the Boston Regional Census Center. “We’re hoping it will connect and when they get the form in March they will think of the mural and realize the census is safe, important, and easy.’’

In 2000, only 48.9 percent of residents in Fields Corner returned their census questionnaires, compared with 57 percent in the rest of Boston and 69 percent in Massachusetts. US census figures are vital in determining the number of congressional representatives and the amount of federal funding a state receives. Some advocacy groups for illegal immigrants are calling for a boycott of the 2010 Census, to pressure politicians to address the problems some illegal immigrants face.

Ludgate said a boycott would hurt the underrepresented: “If you don’t get counted, you don’t get the chance to have your voice heard.’’

“I think people have to believe it’s for their own good,’’ said Hoai Le, an 18-year-old Tufts University student whose family has lived in Fields Corner since they emigrated from Vietnam in 1991. “The community is going to try and use that money to help them. They just need to have a little faith.’’