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.

The Sketch

Photos

Sketching in the merry-go-round

Our first tracing attempt from Friday (7/29) night.  I painted over this and from now on we are using light blue paint

July 25 - Scraping the wall