Creative Currents and Jazz Theodicy make it onto WNPR! The PJS section begins at 6:13 and I speak at 23:46!
http://www.yourpublicmedia.org/content/wnpr/where-we-live-local-art-activates-change
Showing posts with label Mural 7: New Haven St. James and St. Paul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mural 7: New Haven St. James and St. Paul. Show all posts
Apr 21, 2011
Apr 8, 2011
Mar 27, 2011
"Come Dance with the Saints"
On Friday March 25th from 7pm - 10pm, I attended "Come Dance with the Saints" at the Church of Saint Paul and Saint James. Not only was it the only party that has been thrown for one of my murals, but it also felt more like an official art opening than my senior thesis show! With an attendance of sixty people; an array of cookies, food, coffee, and wine; and performances by jazz, flamenco, and capoeira groups, the evening truly mirrored the fun and lively spirit of the mural. I got to shake hands, smile, and pretend to be a minor celebrity. The true pleasure of the evening, however, was watching people pose for photos next to their favorite saint.
More pictures from the evening...
The Theodicy Jazz Group preforms at the opening
http://www.facebook.com/theodicyjazz?v=info
People begin to mill about the space
Capoeira performs
What a spectacular event. Thanks to all who spent time putting it together!
Awesome blog written by Ashley Makar about the PJs Mural
“Dance with the Saints” Friday Night
There’s a dance party happening in the undercroft of New Haven’s St. Paul and St. James Church: American Revolutionary David Wooster raises the roof with Joan of Arc; J.S. Bach leaps between Harriet Tubman and Black Panther Warren Kimbo; Moses’ sister Miriam twirls her purple skirt behind the wall outlet that keeps the coffee pot hot for “Loaves and Fishes” food-pantry guests. The Wooster-Square Episcopal parish known as St. PJs celebrates its new mural, “Dance with the Saints,” Friday night, with Theodicy, the music collective that offers a jazz Eucharist every Sunday, and the Capoiera and Flamenco dancers who practice in the church basement.
Last month, I went to visit the mural-in-progress, on the tail end of a narcotics anonymous (NA) meeting. As people were saying “see you next week,” one man named C. hovered around the artist who was outlining bodies on the 50-foot wall around us. “What’s the concept?” he asked.
Julie Dickerson, a recent Princeton grad who got a fellowship to paint murals in homeless shelters and community centers, spent two weeks last month painting figures on the 50-foot wall of St. PJ’s undercroft. She explained the project to C.: to paint dancing saints (not necessarily traditional Christian saints), community leaders and heroes, who represent the different people who use the space. They can see themselves, reflected in the dance mirrors, as part of the mural. She pointed out a body suspended mid-kick, her outline for the founder of Capoiera, Brazilian martial artist Mestre Bimba.
“Are you good at portraits?” C. asked.
“Not amazing,” Julie told him. “But you should be able to recognize the face, when I do Martin Luther King.”
“That’ll be the distinction,” he said: the faces.
In the completed mural, MLK looks like he’s about to deliver an “I Have a Dream” speech. Miriam has strikingly high cheek bones. Charlie Mingus is sporting a goatee, the smoke from his cigarette rising to the arc of his halo. Joseph Cinque, the West-African who led a slave mutiny on the Amistad ship, rubs elbows with white abolitionist William Wilberforce.
Julie invites C. to fill in one of the saint figure’s robes, in an orange-brown base color she’s mixed. As he’s making crescent-shaped strokes on the wall, he tells us he’s an artist, mostly a poet. I tell him I write poetry, too. He invites me to the monthly spoken-word poetry slam at the New Haven People’s Center. (I go and find a familiar face, a man who always introduces himself as Rick B., Rick B., the poet; who carries a briefcase full of his poems, a walkman, and thank-you notes from Sisters of Mercy for his contributions.)
The fresh mural is already serving its purpose: to bring people from different walks of life together. Already, a Princeton art major, a New Haven resident in NA, and a Yale Divinity student have found common ground on a church-basement dance floor.
The Saturday after my first sight of the mural, I volunteered at Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry. I greeted all manner of people—a Jehova’s Witness, a biker, a young woman who’d been assigned community-service hours—at the door. Coats were hung on the hooks above the saints’ haloed heads. Donated clothes were laid out in front of an angel touching an abolitionist’s shoulder.
St. PJs serves diverse communities: the Latino, Caucasian, and African-American guests of the emergency food pantry; the dance troupes, NA and AA groups that use the church undercroft throughout the week; the church goers who come for jazz Eucharist. The Reverend Alex Dyer hopes the mural will bring more St. PJ’s parishioners down from the sanctuary, into the undercroft. I hope Friday night’s “Dance With the Saints” party will testify to that Capoiera-kicking kind of vision.
Last month, I went to visit the mural-in-progress, on the tail end of a narcotics anonymous (NA) meeting. As people were saying “see you next week,” one man named C. hovered around the artist who was outlining bodies on the 50-foot wall around us. “What’s the concept?” he asked.
Julie Dickerson, a recent Princeton grad who got a fellowship to paint murals in homeless shelters and community centers, spent two weeks last month painting figures on the 50-foot wall of St. PJ’s undercroft. She explained the project to C.: to paint dancing saints (not necessarily traditional Christian saints), community leaders and heroes, who represent the different people who use the space. They can see themselves, reflected in the dance mirrors, as part of the mural. She pointed out a body suspended mid-kick, her outline for the founder of Capoiera, Brazilian martial artist Mestre Bimba.
“Are you good at portraits?” C. asked.
“Not amazing,” Julie told him. “But you should be able to recognize the face, when I do Martin Luther King.”
“That’ll be the distinction,” he said: the faces.
In the completed mural, MLK looks like he’s about to deliver an “I Have a Dream” speech. Miriam has strikingly high cheek bones. Charlie Mingus is sporting a goatee, the smoke from his cigarette rising to the arc of his halo. Joseph Cinque, the West-African who led a slave mutiny on the Amistad ship, rubs elbows with white abolitionist William Wilberforce.
Julie invites C. to fill in one of the saint figure’s robes, in an orange-brown base color she’s mixed. As he’s making crescent-shaped strokes on the wall, he tells us he’s an artist, mostly a poet. I tell him I write poetry, too. He invites me to the monthly spoken-word poetry slam at the New Haven People’s Center. (I go and find a familiar face, a man who always introduces himself as Rick B., Rick B., the poet; who carries a briefcase full of his poems, a walkman, and thank-you notes from Sisters of Mercy for his contributions.)
The fresh mural is already serving its purpose: to bring people from different walks of life together. Already, a Princeton art major, a New Haven resident in NA, and a Yale Divinity student have found common ground on a church-basement dance floor.
The Saturday after my first sight of the mural, I volunteered at Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry. I greeted all manner of people—a Jehova’s Witness, a biker, a young woman who’d been assigned community-service hours—at the door. Coats were hung on the hooks above the saints’ haloed heads. Donated clothes were laid out in front of an angel touching an abolitionist’s shoulder.
St. PJs serves diverse communities: the Latino, Caucasian, and African-American guests of the emergency food pantry; the dance troupes, NA and AA groups that use the church undercroft throughout the week; the church goers who come for jazz Eucharist. The Reverend Alex Dyer hopes the mural will bring more St. PJ’s parishioners down from the sanctuary, into the undercroft. I hope Friday night’s “Dance With the Saints” party will testify to that Capoiera-kicking kind of vision.
Feb 17, 2011
Dancing Saints Mural
For the past two weeks, I've been painting a dancing saints mural in the undercroft of Saint Paul and Saint James Church of New Haven, CT. Thank you to Katie, Andy, Sarah, Will, Pastor Alex, Wendy, Pastor Vickie, Craig, Alex, and my new friends from the NA meetings who welcomed me into the New Haven community so instantly. Your care, enthusiasm, and support made this project possible.
About the saints: they include historical Christian saints along with community heroes, jazz musicians, dancers, social and political leaders, those who fought for justice, and a past parishioner. Of course, the dance mirror reflects the viewer's image as well as those of the saints; anyone in the room becomes a part of the mural -- welcomed into the community of surrounding saints.
I was privileged to paint while various groups used the space: Loaves and Fishes food pantry, capoeria and flamenco dance groups, and numerous NA groups. I tried to reflected the diversity of life, energy, and courage that came through the space.
Click on the picture below for a video or go here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtkF53G1WPk
On a side wall we have Florence Li Tim-Oi, Rev. Pusey, and a famous Jazz musician (name to be inserted)
On the left side of the dance mirror we have Rev. Shoemaker, Bob Yates (former parishioner who was involved with Loaves and Fishes), and Henry VIII (who better to advertise the clothing closet)
The dance mirror reflecting the other side of the wall
On the right side of the mirror we have a famous Flamenco dancer (name to be inserted), Lady Guadalupe, Florence Nightingale, former New Haven Mayor Frank Logue, and Bishop Seabury
View part one of the 50' wall.
View part two of the 50' wall.
Random angel, William Wilberforce, Cinque, David Wooster
John of Arc, Thomas Crammer, Martin Luther King Jr.
The bumps and inconsistencies of the wall made for an interesting challenge. From straight on, the saints look perfectly normally. From a side view, everything shifts. This actually turned out to my advantage since it made the saints' feet look like they were jumping and moving.
Saint Paul & Saint James, Miriam
Saint Thomas, Mestre Bimba, John Coltrane
Dancers that represent the New Haven Ballet that started at Saint Paul and Saint James, Charles Mingus
Please, Charles, stop smoking. This is a church for Christ's sake!
Harriet Tubman, ebullient Bach, Warren Kimbo, another random angel
On the other side wall we have Absalom Jones, Evelyn Underhill, and Samson Occom
Here I fixed Bob's tie to be his most worn burgundy with gray stripes.
I can't wait to attend the opening party at the church in March!
Nov 1, 2010
Mural Consultation visit for St. James and St. Paul
Today I met with Rev. Alex Dyer to discuss the mural I will paint for their food pantry program Loaves and Fishes: http://www.stpaulstjames.org/loavesfishes.html. I had anticipated starting the project tomorrow, but it looks like I will return during the first couple weeks of January after a doing plethora of sketches to finally paint.
Why so many sketches?
1) The complex vision for the mural requires intensive composition studies 2) The space is MUCH bigger than anticipated; we don't have proper estimates but I would guess the giant underground room is at least twenty by forty feet. Any wall space not covered by dance mirrors will be filled with the mural! 3) The Boy Scouts of American will be repainting the walls white in December which will make a backdrop that is much easier with which to work than the current colors.
The Vision: A series of Dancing Saints and Local Heroes.
Rhythm. Color. Joy. In this mural, anyone and everyone can be a saint hero (there will potentially be 50+). Each of the nonprofit groups that use the room will be represented: ballet groups, capoeira groups, food donation groups, and clothes donation groups. Leaders of the community will be present in the mural, sometimes accompanied by the Christian Saint who symbolically represents their community-minded efforts. Those who use the room will see themselves reflected in the dance mirrors and thus find themselves a part of the mural; they too will enter the brotherhood and sisterhood of happy, hardworking hero saints. This will be, by far, the most ambitious and transformative mural of all my projects to plan and execute. I can't wait. Stay tuned for updated lists of the Saint Heroes to be included, sketches, and a possible reveal date/party.
Click on Slideshow below for initial (and bigger) pictures of the building with captions.
Why so many sketches?
1) The complex vision for the mural requires intensive composition studies 2) The space is MUCH bigger than anticipated; we don't have proper estimates but I would guess the giant underground room is at least twenty by forty feet. Any wall space not covered by dance mirrors will be filled with the mural! 3) The Boy Scouts of American will be repainting the walls white in December which will make a backdrop that is much easier with which to work than the current colors.
The Vision: A series of Dancing Saints and Local Heroes.
Rhythm. Color. Joy. In this mural, anyone and everyone can be a saint hero (there will potentially be 50+). Each of the nonprofit groups that use the room will be represented: ballet groups, capoeira groups, food donation groups, and clothes donation groups. Leaders of the community will be present in the mural, sometimes accompanied by the Christian Saint who symbolically represents their community-minded efforts. Those who use the room will see themselves reflected in the dance mirrors and thus find themselves a part of the mural; they too will enter the brotherhood and sisterhood of happy, hardworking hero saints. This will be, by far, the most ambitious and transformative mural of all my projects to plan and execute. I can't wait. Stay tuned for updated lists of the Saint Heroes to be included, sketches, and a possible reveal date/party.
Click on Slideshow below for initial (and bigger) pictures of the building with captions.
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