Saturday, March 21, 2015

Mural Project : Window to Another World, 2015 Kingston Jamaica


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Experiencing global friendships helps children expand their horizons, and it makes them see themselves as part of a community larger than their own.  Creating windows of peace to other worlds enriches their understanding of cultural differences and acceptance.  This project I am involved in is creating a window to another world through Murals.
My involvement with this mural project begins as I join a mural artist from Altoona, Pam Etters Snyder. Along with creating murals in Altoona and Hershey (http://muralstalk.weebly.com/photo-galleries.html) she is also involved in creating a window to another world for 6th grade students from Juniata Gap School in Altoona and St. Patrick's Primary School in Waterhouse, Kingston Jamaica.  
The window between the two worlds emerged as Patrick Taylor (Nickname ‘Moe’) a soccer coach who is originally from Waterhouse, Kingston, Jamaica talked to the kids at Juniata Gap School about his childhood circumstances. He grew up in poverty stricken part of Kingston and witnessed crimes, violence and struggled daily to simply make it.  
The most powerful piece he shared with the students is that circumstances are almost always given to you - at least when you are a child- and that making efforts to overcome adversity is what creates a shift in your circumstances. The harder you work and the more effort you put into succeeding, the greater your chances are to change your circumstances for the better. He also talked about the history of Kingston and the people who live there today.
So with that as a start, Pam and her team designed the first portion of the mural to reflect that history.  There is large white space left remaining in the mural. The white space will be designed with the help from children at St. Patrick School in Kingston to complete the mural.  The mural is about 10 feet x  4 feet (see picture).  


So, now we are planning a trip to Waterhouse, Kingston, Jamaica this May 2015 where we will spend a week towards completing this Window to Another World mural project.
We will take a day talking to the kids about effort and circumstances. We will also share things about the students from Juniata school who created first half of the mural.  We will talk about their local culture and what they feel defines them as a community. The kids will be given time to draw pictures that represent them, their families, their culture and community. This part is where the magic begins. We really do not know what those children will come up with and how it will shape the mural.
From their drawings we will design and sketch the final portions of the mural in the evening. The plan is to use mixed media of paint and paper mosaics to complete the mural. The next two days we will work with the kids to complete the painting and then hang it in the school or local fĂștbol stadium where it will be visible and respected by community members. This trip will give Mo an opportunity to give back to his home community and be a shining example of the rewards that come when you put effort into the pursuit of your dreams and goals. What a great role model for these children to look up to for many years to come.  

Digital - Story Telling
We are also planning the students from St. Patrick School in Kingston to communicate with the students at Juniata Gap through Skype. At the moment I do not know what that would be like however I do expect sparks in the eyes of children. I will share more about that later.
As we plan this trip, we are also forming ideas to be able to tell stories about our experiences. We plan to use video camera, still photos, and a Go Pro camera and take footage of the mural making. Also plan to make poignant observations on the emerging relationships with the students. Recording confessionals in the evening of our experiences and students’ experiences will serve as a wonderful medium for digital storytelling.  The purpose of doing this is that digital storytelling can bind all its characters to this short experience for a long time.
My thought is that as we travel to Jamaica we go with the intent to help the children of St. Patrick's Primary School in Waterhouse, and might discover that they have changed us! 



How to incorporate mosaic element in the Mural?
As I joined this team I suggested that we incorporate mosaic in the mural. After I met her, Pam and I found an instant connection and I felt comfortable with her right away.  I feel privileged to be part of this project. Since we are working on a canvas, to keep the weight down, I decided to go with paper mosaics.  Paper mosaics take some getting used to.  I have never done paper mosaics before. So I tried a small project on canvas. I liked to have the background painted in some darker shade like brown, or navy since there is going to be no grout added at the end. I discovered that larger the pieces more curled they become as I stick them, so I had to repeatedly press them down with a flat piece of plastic until the glue caught on. 
     In Kingston, we will have to do the mosaic part first, since it would require some time for glue to dry.  After it dries I noted that some of the glue showed on the edges but then at Pam’s advice I coated it with Liquitex Matt Medium and it seemed to make it even and the extra glue got dissolved. It also helped to glue the edges of paper stick better to the canvas. I think this will work.  Also I found that we may have to use markers to define the mosaic spaces.
Pam and I are also considering using water diffusing paper for the students to color with water colors, diffuse the colors with sprayed water, and then cut out leaves or butterflies with it and incorporate it with mosaics.  I will share more as I experiment more. 


Fundraiser
Frankly I have never had to have a fundraiser for a project. So at first I was not sure how this will come together. However Pam is a person of faith and strong belief in herself that she will be able to pull it together.  I admire her courage to put herself out and be confident that this will work out.  I guess the mural project is like a calling so people find ways to reach out and give and get. So the fundraiser was an art paint party. Pam had four sessions in one day and participants had a great art lesson plus snacks, conversation and walked away with a wonderful art experience.  Pam raised $650 for the Juniata Gap to Jamaica trip and hopefully planning one more such party.

See more about this experience at this weblink - http://muralstalk.weebly.com/

If you would like to join the next party this coming April 2015, send me an e-mail (anjujolly@comcast.net) and I will contact you as soon as I have a date and time fixed. If you are in DuBois, you can travel with me in my car, up to Altoona and back to DuBois.  

 Donations
If you would like to contribute to this project, please send me an e-mail or visit our crowd funding link at http://muralstalk.weebly.com/donate.html  or http://www.gofundme.com/muralstalk


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