Play and Learn is a drop-in program for parents and their children who are age 5 and under. It is designed to offer kids who are not attending structured pre-school the opportunity to have fun while preparing for kindergarten success. Participants left ideas for the jungle-themed mural in a “drop-box.” Suggestions included monkeys, a waterfall, and a Sri Lanka – looking jungle. All the animals in the mural are animals found in Sri Lanka – except maybe the butterflies!
Students in UW Office of Educational Opportunities College for Kids program make collages, soft sculpture figures and found object creatures in “Arts of the Americas” with Shadayra Kilfoy-Flores.
Students from UW Office of Educational Opportunities Technology & Arts program make 3 exterior mosaics at Centro Hispano during the 2012 heat wave.
During the “We Rise Like the Phoenix” mural project, students from all 6 alternative programs helped create murals on 3 sides of the school building. The student-designed murals include important activities that happen at the school, inspirational slogans and mosaics. Funding for this phase of the project was provided by American Girl Fund for Children.
These collages were made in Guadalajara and San Pancho, Nayarit Mexico while I was painting “GO BIG ART: Madison to Mexico Mural Project” in early 2012. Most of the items in them were purchased or gathered in Gadalajara. Included in each collage is a paper boat made by a second grader at the Drexel Bilingual School where the first artist-in-residency was held.
The Williamson Street Art Center partners with the Respite Center to help children and their families create “Good People” badges at Overture Center for the Arts International Festival.
During our second mural residency in Mexico, we are at a secondary school that has a special focus on marine biology and other studies of the sea. All students did preliminary sketches with Indira, the art teacher from Entreamigos, the local community center. Then 15 students who showed interest and aptitude – and whose grades allowed them to be away from their regular studies for a week – were chosen by the administration to participate in the project. The group was wonderful – and was joined by a couple of community members who contributed greatly to the project. The mural is right on the main street into town. You can’t miss it when you visit San Pancho! (short for San Fransisco) Photos were taken by Wendy Schneider.
My friend, Carmen Perez, the principal of Drexel Bilingual Elementary School, knows how to dedicate a mural! We had a formal flag ceremony, speeches, the waving of streamers while the kids sang “We Are the World” – in English – and enough tres leches cake to feed one hundred! Some days I am the luckiest person in the world!! All photos were taken by Wendy Schneider.
Our first international mural residency was in January 2012 at the Drexel Bilingual Elementary School in Guadalajara Mexico. All photos are by Wendy Schneider.
Check out the video of the project by Wendy Schneider:
This mural at Omega School, a high school equivelancy program in Madison, WI, was painted by community members and was funded by the Wisconsin Arts Board.