​TALKING WALLS MURALS

At Oakridge Elementary in Oakridge, OR., coming to school on Fridays is optional. There are grants in place to help get guest specialty teachers like me to come and work with the kids who do opt to come on Fridays. This group of kids was small, but energetic!

In only three Fridays, the kids and I were able to complete this little mural for the wall outside a 1st grade classroom. The teachers chose the theme of "friendship" for the project. We worked on plywood with acrylic paint (as always - environment AND kid-friendly paint). Bright, fun to paint, and gets the right message across.

The McKenzie School Eagles are a group of about 400 students grades K-12 all within one rural Oregon campus. Due to budgetary restraints, the school's regular hours are only Monday-Thursday. Fridays are reserved for a supplementary enrichment program, open to any and all students who want to attend.

I was at McKenzie for four Fridays, to help students attending the enrichment days, to complete a mural for their school. The students and I came up with a design that would incorporate their mascot, the eagle, their school moto, and the river and forest setting of their school.

This mural project was created with all 190 students, grades K-5 at Walterville Elementary School in Walterville, OR. The process was typical of a mural residency with me and went as follows: • Initial planning meeting with staff to discuss their ideas for the residency and mural theme. They decided on an "Oregon" theme.

• Teachers had every student make drawings depicting their ideas of Oregon, and sent them all to me! • I took all student's drawings and took inventory of the images and incorporated their ideas into an overall mural design.

This mural was first imagined to be a central project for the school's annual celebration of Cesar Chavez. The concept grew, however, to include other great leaders. This mural was completed in 11 days in 2 hour blocks after school at Junction City High School in Junction City, OR.

High School in Junction City, OR. There were about 12 students who participated in the concept, design and fabrication of this mural. I held an initial brainstorming session with the students, and they decided they wanted to honor some great leaders who had worked for the rights of others in their lifetimes. They settled on (from Left to Right) Susan B. Anthony, Gandhi, Cesar Chavez, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela.

During Kutsinhira's annual membership party, all their classes get together to play music for each other and have a meeting about what's going on with the various charity organizations they associate with. An organizer of the event wanted to have the attending kids paint posters for the 3 Zimbabwe organizations that our Eugene community is connected to, as a token of our friendship. The organizations Tariro, Chinhoyi High School, and Nhimbe, would all be sent posters to hang in their offices.

When I was in 2nd grade, I started taking lessons to learn how to play the marimba music of Zimbabwe. I played off and on with different classes and ensembles from 2nd grade through high school, and sometimes when I was home from college. The Eugene, OR. organization that I took classes from is called Kutsinhira.

This project was a culmination of my experiences and passions: Madagascar (where I lived for 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer) and mural-making with children. In Summer of 2012, I worked as an Intern and Assistant on a mural project in Philadelphia. There, I learned a technique of painting murals on sections of a specialized fabric. A mural can be painted in one location, and installed in another.

With this knowledge, I had the idea to have students make murals to be shipped to Madagascar and have Malagasy villagers complete it to become an international mural collaboration. The theme of the murals would be heath topics like Malaria Prevention (a huge issue in Madagascar). In this way the murals could be installed in the countryside so that the large illiterate population could learn from the images, and those who could, would read the words.

This project was created for the 2-3 grade hallway at Willagillespie Elementary School in Eugene, OR. The school voted on different scientists to represent each hallway. Jaques Cousteau, born in the 1910, was an explorer and scientist who studied sea life. The goal for this mural was to represent Cousteau's life work in a dynamic way.

I painted the outline of the design I came up with, and guided each group of students through painting the entire mural. Each 2nd and 3rd grade student in the school was involved in the painting process. I believe in the creativity and artistic ability of children and attempt to work with that rather than use a paint-by-number approach when completing murals. Kids are able to do so much with a little guidance and inspiration!

Oaklea Middle School "Tigers" have a lot of pride in their school. Students wanted this mural project to commemorate their school mascot and encourage school spirit. With the kid's imput, I created a design that we could all work with. Students grades 5-8 in Oaklea's after school program worked with me for the duration of the project.

I usually stay away from using a paint-by-number approach with the students. I like to instead give each student one color and allow them more freedom in their mark-making and to make some creative decisions. Before and throughout the duration of any mural project, I strongly emphazise the goal of team-work and collaboration with their peers; every student, every color and every mark matters equally in making up the final product.

This project was created for the K-1 grade hallway at Willagillespie Elementary School in Eugene, OR. The school voted on different scientists to represent each hallway. John James Audobon, born in the 1700's, was an ornithologist, naturalist, and painter. He was most famous for his guide, The Birds of America. The goal for this mural was to represent Audobon's life work in a dynamic way.

I painted the outline of the design I came up with, and guided each group of students through painting the entire mural. Each Kindergarten and 1st grade student in the school was involved in the painting process. I believe in the creativity and artistic ability of children and attempt to work with that rather than use a paint-by-number approach when completing murals. Kids are able to do so much with a little guidance and inspiration!

This Mural was created with the help of all 400+ students at Adams Elementary School in Eugene, OR. Adams has the first renewable power system in the 4j School District, using solar panels and a solar hot water heater. Adams has a commitment to working on reducing their carbon footprint through teaching and maintaining sustainable practices.

This Mural was created with the help of all 400+ students at Adams Elementary School in Eugene, OR. Adams has the first renewable power system in the 4j School District, using solar panels and a solar hot water heater. Adams has a commitment to working on reducing their carbon footprint through teaching and maintaining sustainable practices.

This project was created for the 4-5 grade hallway at Willagillespie Elementary School in Eugene, OR. The school voted on different scientists to represent each hallway. Benjamin Banneker, born in the 1700's, was an astronomer, mathematician, and almanac author. He was also famous for building a clock entirely of wood parts. The goal for this mural was to represent Banneker's life work in a dynamic way.

I painted the outline of the design I came up with, and guided each group of students through painting the entire mural. Each 4th and 5th grader in the school was involved in the painting process. I believe in the creativity and artistic ability of children and attempt to work with that rather than use a paint-by-number approach when completing murals. Kids are able to do so much with a little guidance and inspiration!

I was hired by the Principal at McCornack Elementary School in Eugene, OR. to help one of their students create a mural. This student's name was Nicole, and she had won an art contest while she was in 4th grade. She was promised that her design would be made into a mural and be displayed somewhere in the school. A year had passed, and Nicole was now a 5th grader, running out of time to make her mural into a reality.

I asked Nicole to pick 6 friends that could join our mural-making team. I transffered Nicole's drawing onto panels and we got to painting whenever we could pull her and her friends out of their classes for a couple hours per week.