The second meeting of our mural group was fruitful. After pizza, we had kids look again at the mural they created at our last session. Each child shouted with joy at images they had begun or finished. Each recalled the impact of their own hand as well as the change that was brought by other children who continued to transform each image. There was laughter over chicken pox given a giant man and a big serious building behind a sweet bunny(or was that a puppy) etc etc. Clearly delight over what they had accomplished together.

Next we paired the kids up in groups that were different from last time. Franca, Sylvia and Miranda worked together, Isabella and Lucia, and then Max and Harry. We asked the children to look at the mural together and select some images about which they would like to make a story. Harry and Max worked in the sunroom, Lucia and Isa in the living room and Franca, Miranda and Sylvia in the dining room. We gave them 10 or 15 minutes to write and then a few more to finish up their stories. Ultimately they wrote about completely different parts of the mural and they let their imaginations fly. From bunnies who made friends with fish who were trying to jump out of their tanks, to magic wishing flowers and talking dogs to hurricanes and pups in cities taken to the eye of the storm, the children shared all their work with much gusto.

Stories were followed by kids sharing their homework assignments from the last session. They had been asked to find a mural and write their observations. What was interesting about it? How did it make them feel? And what would they call it? Each grabbed their mural journal and read and shared drawings they had made. Miranda and Franca and Lucia wrote about the mural behind the Arts Unbound building on Freeman St in Orange. Harry and Sylvia wrote about the new Valley Arts mural going up nearby in Orange. And Max and Isa showed photos and wrote about some of the murals at the Maplewood Town Hall. It was wonderful to listen to them so easily relate their observations. They had clearly begun to feel comfortable saying what they saw and how it made them feel.

The group then moved onto the computer and we showed them a memorial mural that Sybil had found in Brooklyn. They were fascinated by the meaning found there. The kids found meaning in traffic signs that were held up. They were sobered by the early deaths of the children painted in the mural as a result of auto/ bicycle/pedestrian accidents in that neighborhood. We talked about how that mural not only told a story, but also sent a message to viewers to take care while driving and walking and biking.

Ellen ended the meeting by raising the concept of a “tag”. The kids found tags on their clothing and then Ellen explained that often mural and graffiti artists signed their work with something called a “tag”. She showed a few which we had printed from the internet. She proposed kids think about what their tag might be if it were an image or a number or a set of letters. They left with an assignment to come up with their own tags. Adults are welcome to do the same and share at our next meeting, Tuesday January 8 at the home of Ellen, Jeremy and Sylvia.

It should be noted that Lucia could hardly believe that there would be no mural making at this session. Others seconded her opinion. We have taken that under advisement and will be sure to include artmaking at each session from now on.

Mural behind Arts Unbound

The kids taking notes.

Jay Hoffman Mural sneak peak in process
Artist Jay Hoffman Showing Mural sketch

The first ValleyArts Mural

Mosaic mural by Debbie Markette “The Wall of Scintillation”

This is a photo of the kids with their first collaborative project:

We began our first meeting by asking, “What Is a Mural?” and writing down the children’s responses, which included that it tells a story and is a big picture. The children can add to the definition as they discover more. Then they did a ‘walking tour’ of three stations we had set up: tables with books open to specific murals. We explained what they would be doing at each table and read aloud questions on sheets we had prepared: What is interesting in the mural? How does it make you feel? What would you write as a title for this mural? We divided the kids into groups of two and threes and they set to work. The murals we used were by Keith Haring and Diego Rivera. Time was flying, so the kids got to 2 of the 3 stations. Clearly, the idea of looking hard and finding more was happening. Seeing how color effected the mood of the work also surfaced. In the Haring, how movement was created by adding action lines was noticed. After we read aloud the children’s responses to the work, they then got to make a mural of their own. We spread a long piece of white paper on the floor and distributed markers (2 or 3). The kids sat around the paper and each started a picture. After a few minutes, they moved to their left and continued the picture that their neighbor drew. They continued working around the mural, like musical chairs except nobody got eliminated. Before they made it back to their own space, their last task was to connect the drawing in front of them to the others. They used paths and ladders to make connections. In their talking (and singing) a story was starting to emerge. Back at their own spots, they wrote their names. The children then sat back as we held up the mural. Immediately they noticed that half of it was upside down. We turned the mural around so they could see it right-side up from the other angle. Then they wanted to see it vertically in both directions. Lastly, we took a photo of the children holding their mural.

Before leaving, each child got a notebook. They will be looking around in the community or wherever they will be traveling over the next two weeks for a mural, and writing about it, as they did in the workshop today, to present to the group next time. Also, in the next workshop, we might want to hold up the mural they made last time and subject it to the same scrutiny: what do you notice? what is interesting? how does it make you feel? and what title would you give it?