Thank You!

The inauguration ceremony for the mural went beautifully on Friday, September 23.  We had a lovely hand-printing ceremony in which volunteers got to stamp their hand-print on the wall and sign their name inside.  Then we cut the ribbon to officially welcome the mural into the community. 

Here are some of the words of thanks that I spoke at that event:

Thank you everyone so much for your support of this mural.  I have so many people and organizations that I want to thank for making this mural a reality. 

First off, I want to thank Mayuli Bales, director of Casa Guadalupe Multicultural Community. Casa Guadalupe has been a wonderful partner in this project since the brainstorming process back in February. They were essential to the success of this mural, especially in the organizing of the Latino community, helping me find effective ways to gather input from community members. 

Our goal was for this mural to reflect the identity of Latinos in Cold Spring, giving them a visual presence in the community and celebrating the town’s history.  We also wanted to empower youth and community members by getting them involved in the painting process.    

To get the youth involved, Mayuli helped me organize art workshops in June focused on muralism and identity.  These workshops helped build momentum for the mural project, as the kids became more and more excited to paint on the wall.

Back in May we had doubts as to whether this mural was even going to happen.  By the end of June, however, we were relieved to discover that murals were a-okay.  Thank you City Administrator Paul Hetland and the Planning Commission for working with us during this process. 

Meanwhile, another challenge we faced was finding a building on which to paint.  This didn’t prove to be too difficult, thanks to Dan Kippley, owner of the Cleaning Center Laundromat right behind me.  One morning in early June, Raquel, Yesi, and I met with him and gave him our two-minute spiel.  He was quiet for a moment, and then he said simply, “Sure, why not?”  Working with Dan has been a dream.  He has been the most cooperative, flexible business owner I could have asked for – he let me take over his supply closet, and even helped me work the power washer – multiple times!

Speaking of the power washer, I want to thank Wenner Hardware for donating its use.  I am so grateful for all the support that we have received from the local businesses of Cold Spring.  Thank you Thrifty White and the Cold Spring Bakery for donating supplies and snacks for the art workshops that we held in June, and thank you to Lumber One, La Perla Market, and Murphy Granite for donating to the mural.  Donations have come from generous individuals as well; thank you to my muralist friend Gustavo Lira for donating nearly 20 gallons of paint leftover from a mural he completed in Minneapolis. 

I want to also thank my wonderful team of professors who advised me in this project: Elaine Rutherford and Bruce Campbell, as my advisors, and Rachel Melis and Corey Shouse-Tourino as my readers. 

Thank you to the Cold Spring Historical Society, including president Duane Kuss, for giving me a tour of Cold Spring and for providing me with old photos to use as fodder for my designs.

And last but not least, thank you to the volunteers.  All sorts of people gave their time and energy to this project, from youth to local artists, including Jenny Evens and many others.    We put countless hours into this mural, and they were some of the craziest hours I’ll ever remember.  They were filled with lots of painting, lots of laughing, and lots of questions.  These questions sparked conversations that formed the foundation of the mural - conversations about race, history, and simply getting to know one another. 

Almost every day when we were out here, curious townspeople would stop and chat with us for a few minutes about what they saw in the mural.   They saw the Latino culture playing an active role in Cold Spring’s history.  One thing many people were curious about was the significance of the swirls and bubbles. 

The swirls are the Aztec symbol of speech, as I learned from my friend Gustavo Lira.  The bubbles, while they refer to the soda pop factory of the early 1900s, for me also evoke the idea of speech bubbles.  Having the bubbles and swirls intermingling suggests communication and conversation between cultures. 

 

Questions build conversations, and conversations build relationships.  More than in any other project I have ever done, I have experienced in this mural the connections and interdependency that we have with each other.  This mural could not have happened without the help and cooperation of all of you here today.  The relationships that this mural built are part of the legacy that will live on long after we have finished painting.

As master muralist David Alfaro Siqueiros once said, “Monumental painting lives the life that the wall lives.”  This wall, painted with your stories, has come alive through cross-cultural conversation.  It is my hope that we keep this conversation going for years to come. 

A Fine Day Filled with Friends and a Film

Today was a gorgeous, sunny day filled with many volunteers.  I got to meet two art teachers from Cold Spring who helped with the Opera House and with adding a Somali girl to the merry-go-round.

Around 4pm, several students from St. Ben's and St. John's came to help, including painting students and Art Majors from Rachel's Sophomore Topics class.  I so appreciate their help - we accomplished a great deal, including blocking in the teacher figure on the far right, creating shadow for the kids on the merry-go-round, and touching up the swirls in the sky.  It was a nice change of pace to be able to let most all of my volunteers take an assignment and run with it.  Of course, questions would come up, but I didn't feel the need to walk the artists through step-by-step, as I had with other less experienced volunteers.

Members of CSBSJU's Project 8 (a student-run TV channel especially for students) also came around 4:30 to interview Mayuli and the Casa Guadalupe organizers, as well as Paul Hetland, Cold Spring's city administrator.  They filmed us and photographed us a bit as we worked, and interviewed a few volunteer painters.  They will be coming by tomorrow as well.  It is very exciting for our story to be documented like this! 

CSBSJU Volunteers painted until the sun went down

 

 

St. Boniface Festival and Parade

This weekend was the St. Boniface Parish Festival.  Today there was a HUGE parade; I got to walk with Casa Guadalupe´s float and hand out fliers that I made advertising the mural.  They are small, about a fourth of a letter-size page, front and back, with a key to the symbolism in the mural and an invitation to the inauguration celebration that we are having on September 23 at the wall. 

With all the festivities, we had many passers-by as we were painting.  Every day several people stop me to chat for a bit about how they are touched by the mural.  Little kids ask the best questions!

Today I thought back to a moment last week when one of the young teen volunteers told me about how much the mural meant to her.  She said, "I hope that this mural lasts for a long time, and that no one puts graffiti on it.  I want to show my kids where I painted."  She also volunteered to decorate a donation box to put in her family's store.  I was so moved by her passion for the mural. 

I have been reflecting lately on my role as an artist in this project... sometimes it has been difficult for me to determine how much control I should have in the mural painting.  I've had much practice giving precise and concise directions - I feel like a conductor of an orchestra.  Even with my direction, the individual personalities of the volunteers are revealed through their painting styles. 

I talked with Gustavo Lira (who just donated 20 gallons of leftover paint!) about making murals with kids.  He told me that he tries to help them paint it themselves, but if they are having too much difficulty getting it right, he will go back and correct it later.  When talking with Elaine about the issue of correcting volunteer work, she told me that corrections may be helpful to clarify confusion in content.

I've been trying to walk the line between leading volunteers and giving myself time to paint.   Some days I am mostly behind the scenes mixing colors and explaining techniques; lately I've gotten more chances to put my brush to the wall.   Like artist Janine Antoni says of her experience with tight-rope walking, I am learning to be more comfortable with the daily imbalances that occur in either direction. 

We're in the Saint Cloud Times!

Yesterday Taleiza from the St. Cloud times came with a photographer to the mural site.  We had more volunteers than EVER that day.

Check this video out and read the article!  We also have several photos in the printed version!  :)

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20110817/NEWS01/108170016/CSB-student-volunteers-create-portrait-diversity-Cold-Spring-

Mural Video!

The president of the Cold Spring Historical Society, Duane Kuss, created this nice video of the mural project that he put on his "Digelog" for the Rocori area.  Here is the link if you would like to see it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKijBEMe4ts


If this doesn't work, just go to YouTube and search "cold spring mural project 2011."

More Photos!

8/9, 9am and we're ready to paint!

Picnic Lunch with the muralists and my family, Monday 8/8

Our work in progress

Painting the braids, 8/8/11

Despite a few delays due to rain, our muralist brigade has made fantastic progress since we began tracing on July 29.  Nearly every day I have painted, I have at least three or four volunteers helping me.  I was so excited when one of the girls who came to paint asked me if she could stay longer than her scheduled time.  These kids are making the mural their own, which is so wonderful. 

On Saturday, Mayuli brought about fifteen children ages five to 12 over to see the mural. We discussed the symbolism behind the design that I created, and then the kids got to paint for a little while.  Though a bit hectic organizing that many little volunteers at once, we had a good time.  I'm glad they will be able to have some ownership in the project now.

Today the volunteer had a lot of  fun documenting the process through video.  We fixed up the green grassy areas and filled in any spots in the foreground that needed re-touching. We also began to add blue to the hair/river. 

We are moving along at a steady pace.  The basic colors are nearly all blocked in.  Soon I think that we will need to do more detail work.  For this reason I'm very glad that my Cold Spring muralist friend will be able to paint with us tomorrow.