Mural Project for Your Community

A Slide Show Presentation

Created for the University of Florida Art Education Program by Sheri Majewski - Veronica Mariscal -

Barbara Ray

PUBLIC WORKS OF ART ENHANCE COMMUNITIES

Franz West 2008Central Park

Tony Tasset, 2010

Chicago

Philadelphia ArtWorks! Mural Project

Anish Kapoor, 2006

Rockefeller Center

John Fleming & Susan Zoccola, 2002Seattle Center

Silver Plaza FountainSilver Springs, MD

What Can Public Art Do for Your Community?

• Increase desirability of neighborhoods and cities• Fulfill community and social needs• Foster proactive partnerships• Facilitate community pride and connection to

neighbors• Promote professional respect for artists and art

work• Add meaning to shared social spaces• Give youth vision for a better tomorrow • Inspire the community with a common voice of

hope• Educate the public on cultural perspectives through

art

Mural Projects : Address Social Issues of the Community

While Revitalizing a Landmark Area with Art

The Maestrapeace on the Women's Building Mission District, San Francisco

Photo: Chris Carlsson

The main purpose and goal is to use a familiar public space in the

environment, to bring restoration to the community through mural art; using the legacies found in cultural

heritage as the basis to create a relevant work of art that celebrates

culture, diversity, and evokes community pride and social justice; while providing equal access to the

arts.

Exploring the Purpose of Murals:

Mural Project : Necessary Steps Develop Project Timeline Assess Costs and Draft Budget Identify Funding Sources /Make proposals Secure Necessary Permits Select & Contract Qualified Artist/Educator Develop and Approve Plans and Sketches Procure supplies Identify & Recruit Community Volunteers Identify & Recruit Youth: ie. Boys & Girls

Club

Public Art Mural Project as Service Learning for Youth

Encourage youth to participate in all aspects of the project toward developing art and life skills

Provide youth with a meaningful experience in creating a lasting work of art

Promote cross-generational mentoring

Promote cross-cultural collaboration

Mural: Art Education Curriculum Objectives

• Create awareness and appreciation for community and culture… Preservation of values

• Express opinions… choose medium, content

• Organize… recruit volunteers, assign tasks, schedule tasks and crews, plan for supplies, etc.

• Cooperate… listening skills, teamwork,surveying for ideas: interviews, record

data, report information, answer questions

• Sketch/Draw/Paint – use descriptive language; art vocabulary; practice with media

Mural: Art Education Curriculum Content

I. Project Intro & Background :Introduction of Mural Projects and Community

Mural Gather Artwork Examples Discuss themes, characters, setting, messages

seen in mural work Explain Project Plan and discuss schedule of activities

II. Cultural History Local Historical Museum field trips and

community guest speakers Discuss Questions to ask Guest Speakers,

Community, and ArtistsCultural theme-What is the main idea? Characters – Who, What, When, Where, Why? Setting – What area? cities? villages? famous

places? landscapes? What lesson learned about the community?

III. Project Organization & Cooperative Learning Create an Action Plan Mural teams / task assignment charts

IV. Mural Content SelectionBrainstorm, sketching, group observation &

reflection skills: photographs or other imagery, stories

Historical/ Cultural Research ideas Community, Student and Artist ideas

V. Application /Sketching of SelectionsFinalize sample sketches Students arrange their individual sketches into

the overall format.Final layout of mural design

VI. Mural Creation ProcessSurveying location, preparationOrganize people into task groupsGather and set up materialsPicture taking, Gridding, Projecting,

Drawing, PaintingCreate Community Flyers, Promotion for

Opening Reception

Mural: Art Education Curriculum Content

Mural Project :Final Exhibition Event

On-Site Event Showcase student works Officially present Mural to

community Invite media for public awareness

Mural Project Evaluation: Surveys to volunteers and

community

Mural Project Examplesand

Testimonialsfrom

Participants

“…The actual, physical reality of people assembling to make decisions about their neighborhood was a

galvanizing democratic experience...” ~~Anonymous

"Young people who are involved in making something beautiful today are less likely to turn to violence and destruction tomorrow" ~~Americans

for the Arts

“Each project showed a degree of empathy for a unique community and gave students an opportunity to use their art skills to deal with the world through

art.” ~~ J. Ulbricht

“Rise to the occasion…It is a testimony to the capacity of art to transform people and society.”

~~Lily Yeh

Ridge on the Rise, by Eric Okdeh © 2004Photo by Jack Ramsdale

“This story - telling mural - includes Cecil Moore, people at the wall of Girard college, Pearl theatre where jazz greats like John Coltrane performed. In the mural, the art deco façade of the long gone theatre contrasts with the forbidding ten foot stone wall that still encloses the grounds of Girard College, location of the landmark civil rights struggle.“

Ralph Maradiaga Mini-park(New York)

“The eight murals in this playground date from 1974 and

almost completely cover the three walls that surround the mid-block pocket park. One mural portrays the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, who forms the

backdrop for a pre-Colombian village scene, with people working,

fishing and playing music. A colorful mosaic sculpture of

Quetzalcoatl with mirrored eyes snakes through the play area,

inviting children to clamber all over it.”

forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=168739

http://www.fadingad.com/fadingadblog/?p=973

Dreams, by Phillip Adams. Martin Luther King mural. © 2007Photo by Jack Ramsdale

Not shown here is a poem by Langston Hughes, entitled DREAMS. “Hold fast to your dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly

Hold fast to dreams For when dreams die Life is a barren field Frozen with snow “

Reaching for Your Star, by Donald Gensler,, Philadelphia, Pa. © 2003This mural was created with the help of ArtWORKS!

participants and students from nearby University of Pennsylvania. Photo by Jack Ramsdale

RESOURCEShttp://www.fadingad.com/fadingadblog/?p=973

http://www.stonybrook.edu/provostliasn/bookstore/mural.html

foundsf.org/index.php?title=Community_Murals

http://www.pps.org

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/public-art.htm

artsresourcenetwork.net/public_art/types_of_public_art

http://www.arts.gov

City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program / Donald Gensler, Phlilip Adams, Eric Okdeh

Ulbricht, J. What is Community Based Art Education? Art Education, March 2005

Coutts, G. and Rusling, L. Design, Environment and Community Arts. Art Education, November 2002

Ramesy Art Project, Boston Massachusetts