"Cultivating the Rebirth: The Columbia Road Mural Project": August 2010

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

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!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Priming the wall

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

Thursday, August 5, 2010

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!!

About Joel Bergner

Joel Bergner, Lead Artist of the Columbia Road Mural project, is an award-winning international mural artist and teacher whose work focuses on issues of community, culture, and human rights. His murals are on display in cities such as Washington DC, San Francisco, Chicago, Baltimore, and abroad in Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Peru, and most recently in Cape Verde, West Africa. Joel's public art projects feature collaborations with local youth, cultural institutions, community organizations, schools and fellow artists. His work has been featured extensively in the media, most notably on Al Jazeera English, The NewYork Times, BBC World News, The Washington Post, Voice of America and TIME Magazine and many others. Click here to see his website.

About the Civic Engagement Summer Program

About Murals DC

From the Murals DC blog:

The MuralsDC project is a program created by DC Councilmember Jim Graham as an effort to replace illegal graffiti with artistic works, to revitalize sites within the community and to teach young people the art of aerosol painting. The goal of this initiative is to positively engage the District’s youth by teaching proper art techniques, providing supplies, and a legal means to practice and perform their skill in a way that promotes respect for public and private property and community awareness. Site selection is based on areas of the District with high incidence of illegal graffiti as identified by the Department of Public Works (DPW) and other agencies. Each mural reflects the character, culture and history of the neighborhoods in the District and interests from the business/residence owners.

The MuralsDC project is a partnership between DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, DC Department of Public Works, and the DC City Council’s Committee on Public Works and Transportation chaired by Councilmember Jim Graham, Government of the District of Columbia, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The painting begins!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Priming the wall

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Filling in the cracks