Friday, August 6, 2010

Project Update from Planning Team

Our gift for service! A beautiful rainbow at the conclusion of our meeting!

The planning team for the 29th Street Coalition Mural Project met again last night. In attendance were Linda, Kate, Pat, Sergio, Michael and Emily. We are making progress as we finalize the location for the mural and start planning the many input session that will be taking place this fall.


There are three types of workshops we are scheduling.


1) Neighborhood input sessions lasting 20 minutes or longer. We will be asking residents what is important to them, what would they like to see in the mural, and about their stories of neighborhood life. A second 30 minute watercolor workshop will also be offered as a way of gathering visual ideas. Residents are asked to bring photographs, memorabilia, heirlooms and other artifacts that can help illustrate their ideas and stories.


2) Elder Share/ Long Time Resident House Parties last an hour or longer. Each neighborhood will have the opportunity to host an event intended for long time residents. This will be an informal opportunity to share ideas for the mural and stories about their lives in the neighborhood.


3) Youth Mural Club will be after school on Wednesdays (time and location is being finalized). In these workshops youth will learn about the elements of art, principles of design, painting, observational drawing and the history of murals. We will be working directly with neighbors and elders to illustrate their stories and ideas and developing a design for our mural. Additionally we will be presenting our work to neighbors and city representatives while learning about the civic dimensions of mural making.


We have already started working with the Julia Keen neighborhood and will be getting input from them at their September meeting. We are in the process of scheduling initial 5 minute presentations, then longer input session with Alvernon Heights , Myers, Naylor and Roberts Neighborhoods. We are also still looking for volunteers to video tape the neighborhood and long time resident sessions.


Mural Location

We are looking into two sites. The fist site is the over pass at 29th and Columbus.


Image of overpass at 29th and Columbus


Current interior of overpass looks like this. When taking these images I asked a group of youth who were hanging out if they thought we should do a mural here - they all said yes, and wanted to be involved. Imagine.


We plan to first paint the interior, and if funds become available the exterior. We are working with the city “Public Art Program Selection Process” to address costs associated with traffic, engineering and risk management. Once our design is complete youth, residents and the lead artist will present the work to the city for approval.


Image of the 7-11 wall


The second location is at the7-11. We are seeking permission from the franchise owner and also looking at the electrical box owned by TEPCo.


TEPCo. Box before shot



Our next meeting will be Thursday September 2, 6pm

5 Grand Creamery 4000 E. 29th St.