Brief Reflection on Second Half of Dale Year

It has been almost a year since I received the Martin A. Dale Fellowship to paint murals in shelters and centers for the poor.  At every mural site, people greet me differently.  Sometimes Alzheimers patients yell at me until they realize I was the artist who came yesterday, and the day before.  Sometimes homeless people predict my future.  On January 21st, 2011, I was asked:

"You wanna see something?"

The man who asked it was a student at Strive D.C. in Washington D.C. working hard to find a job.  Unable to think of a reason to say no, I put my brush down and said, "I guess so."

He removed his sunglasses to reveal an empty eye socket.  Then he told me he liked my mural.

Art asks many things of us, but most of all it asks us to confront ourselves.  Those who are braver, those like this man, do not hesitate to look into their souls and bare who they are to the world.  The one eye of a jobless poor man, he was trying to tell me, is more than enough to appreciate beauty.  His gesture was as powerful as it was personal.  In that odd moment of deep sharing, we were still strangers, but only by a little.

Strive for Success Logo

Chris asked me to created a logo for their Strive for Success program...

This is how the first version came out:

Hallway

After finishing the main mural, Chris (from Strive DC), Kendra (from Yachad), and I decided the hallway going to the basement needed a little lift.  The students use the stairway to go to the classroom downstairs, but the journey felt a little dismal...

While the walls were a cheery yellow, the lack of decoration made the space feel untouched, unused, and uncared for.  I decided to fill the walls with a combination of inspiriting quotes and pictures I found lying around the building.  Some of the pictures were photos of graduates and some were paintings made by previous volunteers. 

You may notice the mistake I made here, writing we twice... 

Luckily I could cover it up by putting the quote on a scroll.

Once downstairs, there was an empty wall that Chris dreamed of putting a tree.  She wanted to hang the pictures of graduates along the branches, and this would be Strive's family tree.

Here's the tree.  I can't wait to see all of the faces of successful graduates filled up on the branches!

Thank you to the Strive Family.  I wish you all the best of luck.  You do amazing work, and I'm proud to  have been able to support you.  Having listened in on the classes you provide as I painted, I know you provide hope and motivation to numerous people.  

** For those who wondered what happened with the outside "windows", they will be covered in reflective tape to create a more realistic window-like effect!

DC progress

The progress of yesterday and today. Try to imagine the whole thing without all the boxes blocking it...

Day One

Below is the final sketch for the classroom mural of Strive DC.  

However, because the mural space is set up on a stage-like platform and has three component walls (two at a diagonal), I have decided to alter the sketch as I paint.  The scroll with Strive DC's creed will be made larger.  Everything else will be moved to either side of the scroll.  The vertical archways, instead of being stacked on top one another, will be placed side by side and span along the diagonals.  

Here is the progress of day one... the floating scroll with billowing clouds.

 Today at Strive, I enjoyed listening to the various classes held in the building: how to make your resume and how to deal with verbal abuse.  Ages ranged in the class, but most were adults.  The first class started with each member stating their name, what they did over the weekend, and why they came back to Strive.  Some people proudly proclaimed that they had completed all of their homework after visiting with their grandkids.  Others admitted they hadn't done any work but were now motivated by their peer's success and would do it later that day.

No matter how much homework they had or had not done, it seemed each student found time over the weekend to go to church and watch football.  After every speech, the class clapped once ("the success clap").  Inspired by the camaraderie, encouragement, and positive energy, I figured I too should introduce myself.  After all, I had done the same things they had during MLK weekend -- go to church and watch football!  After they commiserated with me over my losing teams, everyone went back to business.  What amazed me the most, was the general chatter about the importance of community service.  Despite the fact that most of these people did not have jobs, they still gave back to the community by volunteering at soup kitchens.  It's an example from which we should all learn...

Strive DC Mural

My next mural project will bring me to Washington DC in mid January.  


Kendra Rubinfield -- Director of Programming for the Jewish nonprofit Yachad -- contacted me via facebook through the introduction of a friend.  Yachad, she informed me, has volunteered to assist Strive DC.  From their website: "STRIVE DC helps chronically unemployed people in the Washington, DC area transform their lives through employment.  The program helps people find and keep employment through three programs."  They help young adults get their GED, find employment, and stay employed.  


The building in which Strive DC operates, however, needs a real facelift.  Yachad is helping to turn the place around and make it visually represent the wonderful and transformative work that happens inside.  Among with other improvements they have up their sleeve, I get to paint the outside of the building along with the classroom wall.  


The building was originally a Jehovah witness church, which means no windows.  Our solution will be a trompe l'oeil effect.  I will painted these fake window to look real and "reflect" the buildings across the street.