Mural complete!

 

In August, Joel and his students attached the 2 mosaic pieces and got to work painting. When the summer program ended, Joel came back and painted in the details with spray paint using a variety of techniques. Some kids and teenagers in the neighborhood came by on many occasions to help paint and learn painting skills. The mural begins with a dark, sad scene with wilted flowers, but then is quickly livened up by youth "cultivating the rebirth" of peace and harmony in their community. This is symbolized by young people cultivating a garden, constructing houses in the neighborhood, and by a college graduate being admired by her little sister.

 

Neighborhood kids get involved!

 As the mural progressed, kids living near the mural often came up and asked if they could help paint. Joel gave them sections to paint and taught them some painting techniques.

The painting begins!

At last we got to start painting our mural!  We sketched out our design and got to work-- we decided to work late afternoons and evenings to avoid the intense heat.

Oscar and Bill on the purple!

Sheena, Henok, and Ivan working hard!

Oscar getting down with the spray paint!

Priming the wall

We spent 2 SIZZLING HOT days covering the wall with white primer and trying to keep hydrated!

Filling in the cracks

Before beginning work on the mural, we had to fill in the big cracks in the wall with concrete. We got our first taste of working in the hot DC summer weather and trying to work on a steep, slanted wall. Thanks to Tru (aka Dominic Painter), the director of Murals DC, for giving us a hand!!

Mosaic panels

After completing our mural design we had to wait for it to be approved, so we took advantage of our classroom time by learning mosaic art. We created 2 mosaic panels to install on the mural. Thanks to Miss Shauntrice Fuller for sharing her knowledge with us!