Oct 20, 2010

MLK Park

Henry Street asked me back -- not to paint at the Senior Center this time but to paint their Martin Luther King Park with the adolescent program.  I was more than pleased to accept the challenge the 10 ft by 40ft wall presented.  The kids got to decide every item that went in the mural and I just helped them put it together.  They chose: a sunset, Martin Luther, hands reaching for a diploma, people playing basketball, a scroll with an encouraging quote, and text with words of their choice.  Here's the progress of the past two days:


Step 1 & 2 (prep days): The old, peeling, faded mural was scrapped and the wall was primed:




Step 3 (Day 1): We painted the background


Step 4 (Day 2): I added the clouds


Step 5 (Day 2): We began adding the foreground elements...

 




Step 6 (Day 2): We add text "Hope, Courage, Diversity etc" and step back to evaluate.



The next steps today include finishing the text, adding the Henry Street Settlement mission statement, and the Martin Luther quote.  Working with the kids (young adults rather) has been extremely rewarding.  They work hard and take ownership of the images.  I'll often hear things like "Fix that mountain, man!" or "That color just isn't right".  They are often pickier than I am about shades, tones, and shapes!  The project was supposed to be finished in two days, but everyone wanted to come back for a third to add the finishing touches with me.  Thanks to everyone at Henry Street who made this wonderful experience possible, especially Matt and Jen who left their busy, important work to come paint with us.  :)  

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