[2005 Projects]
* A New Day
* The Higher We Climb...
* Home in our Eyes
* Voices
* Our Doors are Open to You
* 4th World Mural
* An Environmental...
* Roots & Wings
SUMMER LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE/ Our Doors Are Open to You
OUR DOORS ARE OPEN TO YOU
Groundswell Community Mural Project ©
www.groundswellmural.org
Acrylic on Wall
9 x 53 Ft
2005
Lead Artist: Mauricio Trenard
Assistant Artist: JD Siazon
Mural Team: Liz Bishop, Deneen Campbell, Ciro Capulin, Naping "Nadine" Chen, Adam Gerber, Mana Kawas, Daniela Kowalewska, Ying Lin Ma, Eaman Mohamed, Fatme Omeis, Vivian Rodriguez, Awatef Sabra, Ildefonso Sosa, Zi Wei Yee, Eman Zaki, Chaoyue "Christina" Zhu
Location: 6025 6th Avenue , Brooklyn NY
Community Partner: Sunset Park Family Support Center
 |
 |
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This mural communicates the services offered by the Sunset Park Family Support Center to visitors, and celebrates themes of health, education, family and community. The mural was created by a team of thirteen immigrant adults enrolled in the center's ESL program. The group was composed of people from the Middle East, China, Mexico, Holland and Greece.
The mural team met twice a week for six weeks to identify the theme and images. This design phase included conversations about murals and their history-as a means of communication with roots in many cultures (specifically focusing on the backgrounds of the participants). The group focused on the role the mural would play in the community center as an educational tool and a means of community building and selected images that they thought would accomplish this. Conversations and research with the center's staff and clients generated four principle themes: Healthy Eating, Education, Family and Community Involvement. The group also decided to represent the actual people who use the center in the mural, and saw the mural as a new language with which to communicate and educate visitors.
The group used drawing and collage to create a composition illustrating the four main mural themes. As the team members had been connected with the Center for some time, they were able to integrate their knowledge of the site's activities into the mural. The collective work flowed quickly with the group strongly agreeing that the human figure should be the axis of the mural, and choosing colors they thought would complement the Center's style.
The group scaled up the sketch on the wall using a grid. This was a challenge as it was the first time the group had drawn human figures at such a large scale. But once they learned the process, the team exhibited real skill in rendering line and color. Those that felt more confident helped guide the others, and many of the participants brought their families to help paint on Saturdays.
For the entire group, the mural was a unifying experience. The team was united through the shared goal of executing the mural, which became the voice of not just one culture, but of all cultures united in the quest for common understanding and shared communal experience.
This project was made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts (in Kings County the Decentralization Program is administered by the Brooklyn Arts Council, Inc. (BAC), Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez, the Department of Cultural Affairs, Public Service Award & Brooklyn Borough President's Office and the Office of Children and Family Services & Assemblyman Felix Ortiz as well as the generous support of the Puffin Foundation, Lutheran HealthCare and Polly Howells, Eric and Nicholas Werthman.