At 18, Marquis Fortune says he has just discovered his artistic stroke, even though the high school senior has been putting pencil to paper since he was a boy.

"I have found the concept of working with paint and creating a mural so much more compelling, and bigger than sitting down with pencil and paper," he said.

Fine art, he said, is what drew him to the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts when his family moved here from North Carolina last year.

He also was one of the 100 young artists commissioned to paint 26 murals in eight neighborhoods in last year's Martin Luther King Jr. East Busway Community Mural Project, by Pittsburgh artist Kyle Holbrook.

Yesterday, Mr. Holbrook cited the experience of Mr. Fortune's work on the project as he and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato announced plans to not only continue the mural project, but expand it to other neighborhoods around the city.

"We are planning on expanding into some neighborhoods on the North Side, West End, South Side and in communities along the Mon Valley," said Mr. Holbrook, 29, owner of KH Design.

The neighborhoods to be incorporated in this year's project, which will be known as the National City Moving the Lives of Kids Community Mural Project, will be announced May 15, Mr. Holbrook said.

"We have been getting a lot of requests from communities all over the city because people have seen our work," he said.

With a budget of about $530,000, Mr. Holbrook, who lives in his studio in Homewood, partners a group of 100 youths with 30 artists and site managers to bring the artists' concepts to reality.

The goal of the project, he said, is not only to beautify neighborhoods, but inspire young artists like Mr. Fortune to get involved in the community, while challenging themselves on an artistic level.

"This is a perfect example of how we can work to get young people involved in the community, doing something good," said Mr. Onorato.

The busway project, which started last year as the brainchild of Mr. Holbrook, is paid for by local foundations including The Heinz Endowments, Grable Foundation, Pittsburgh Foundation, Laurel Foundation, August Wilson Center for African American Culture, Multicultural Arts Initiative and National City Bank.

"It is becoming cool to do something positive in the community," Mr. Holbrook said. "We hope that continues this year."