Mural Creation at Children's Home

For three weeks this summer I engaged with an inspiring group of teenage girls at the Children's Home of York -- Girls Center to create a wall mural. The colorful mural will bring vitality, color and voice to an otherwise bland, blank wall in their cafeteria nook.

The completed mural, "Growthtopia", at the Children's Home of York

Theme from Poster Art
A theme of "growth and change" was selected after reviewing artwork created by residents of the home this past Spring. Butterflies, flowers and quotes were common images in that art.

A sample of poster art created by previous residents at the Girls Center.

A sample of poster art created by previous residents at the Girls Center.

A sample of poster art created by previous residents at the Girls Center.

Proposal
I created a rough mock-up of the mural concept and submitted it to leadership.

Rough mock-up of the mural concept.

The Process
The girls embraced the idea. Through daily intuitive art exercises and drawing prompts the words, flowers and butterflies took shape.

Using Nova Color Paints, words were painted in a pearlescent tone-on-tone turquoise against the sky. Now, as a viewer look closely, words are translucent yet shimmer brightly as light bounces off each letter. The girls voices speak.

Flowers and butterflies in all shapes, sizes and color dance across the mural.

The girls took ownership of the process and project. The results are bright, vivid, thoughtful and hopeful. It is evident even in the cover illustration for the mural dedication program.

Every butterfly, word and flower makes me smile. As one quote on the mural states, "If your legs get tired run with your heart."

The Mural Name
They titled their mural "Growthtopia".

Artist Residency
For the project I was a teaching artist in an artist residency through the PA Council of the Arts's Arts In Education program and the Cultural Alliance of York.

The Process: Creating a Storefront Mural for the Holidays in Lebanon, PA

Over the weekend I painted a holiday mural on the 7' high storefront windows at the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce. It is part of a downtown awareness project of the Community of Lebanon Association and the Lebanon Valley Council on the Arts. The windows will be photographed and put out on the council's Facebook page for voting next week...and may the most "liked" window win. (Details to come.)

Folks are always interested in seeing "how did you do that?". So, here is a bit about the process.

The Final Windows:

The Challenges on-site:
* Painting in reverse on glass! The final mural has to be readable from the outside, yet painted from the inside.
* Flaking black paint! Working with tempura, school grade paint can be a challenge.
* Tinted windows!...means we had to mix colors lighter than original planned.
* Working around the logo! The chamber logo had to be incorporated since it was already permanently fixed on the storefront glass.

The Good News: two amazing people were there to help me make it happen. Many, many thanks to Cheryl Batdorf, from the Community of Lebanon Association, and Sharon Zook from the Lebanon Valley Council of the Arts, who didn't hesitate to pick up a paint brush.

Sharon Zook from the Lebanon Valley Council on the Arts

The Sketch:










Roughed In: Using a grease pencil, I sketched the mural onto the outside glass to serve as guidelines for everyone painting in reverse from the inside.

More Good News: the holiday parade was in full swing. We had entertainment! See the marching band in the street?!

Almost there...

 

The Final (from the inside):

VOTE! Place your vote by clicking HERE.
 
Thanks for stopping by the blog!

Sketch for Painting Storefront Windows in Lebanon, PA

So, I'll be painting the storefront windows for the holidays at the Lebanon Valley Chamber of Commerce. It's part of a downtown awareness promotion for the town over the holidays. Votes will be taken for the favorite window via a Facebook contest.



More information about the contest will be forth-coming. Check my artist Facebook page for more updates.

Thanks for stopping by!