First off, THANK YOU so so much to everyone who came out for any of our volunteer dates on the Dream Big mural project! We had such a memorable time creating together and involving the Springfield community in the joy and FUN of making public Art!
And for those of you who have yet to go see the wall in person, it is epic! go see for yourself!
On April 7th, as part of the Cultural Council's "Public Art Week" tour, JWJ hosted a most awesome interactive Art day at the mural wall. We had over 40 participants on that day alone, and even made the news, y'all! This day served as a sort of final hoorah since we are nearing a stopping point.
It was a true honor to be a part of our city's vibrant growing Art scene, and to be listed on the schedule right next to such incredible organizations as MOCA, UNF, the Public Library, RouxArt, and Art Republic (just to name a few)! We are sincerely grateful for the privilege.
Please read our interview by clicking on the image below and scroll down to March 30th!!!
Mahima, Camden, and Ciera are ROCK STARS, it's an inspiring good read, promise!
There are still a few finishing touches that need to be done, and as soon as all is tied up, I will post some finished pictures. For now, enjoy a few of our 'action' shots :) :) :)
Please know that we are still accepting donations through our gofundme account as this entire undertaking has been paid for with nothing but our very own money, time, sweat, and love ... If you know someone who likes donating to the Arts, we will gladly take their money to refund our expenses and get our Artists paid for their talent and time. Spread the word!
https://www.gofundme.com/dreambigmural
And, funny thing I realized a couple weeks ago ... With all the excitement of creating our mural, I have neglected to post any of the exciting things that have simultaneously been going on in the actual classroom!
Just because the JWJ Artists have become local celebrities does not mean they don't have to stay on top of their school assignments and sunshine state standards! The last month, we have been working on our Artist Study Research Paper Presentations, and they are impressive to say the least!
The entire third nine weeks I stopped class fifteen minutes early every day to introduce the students to a new Artist. We covered Artists from over ten different countries, twelve different centuries, and as many different mediums as you can possibly imagine. The students used this list from the 3rd quarter to select an Artist they wanted to learn more about and thus conduct their research.
Following a complexly detailed rubric, each student created a PowerPoint slideshow that they presented to their class, lecture style, becoming the Art Teacher for a day. Even I learned new information I hadn't known before, it was a really great project!
As we round into our last 30 days of the school year this week, we have the added pressure of state testing under way, end of course exams for individual subjects, and our final report card grades just around the corner, so .........
I mean, we have to carve out just a little time for celebrating ... ARTY PARTY STYLE, Y'ALL!!!!
Check back in the week after next to find out about our next public Art project (in conjunction with RouxArt and the UNF Business Department) called "Project Brush Up". We will be creating mosaic murals in Main Street park downtown and there will be a few volunteer dates that YOU, yes, YOU, can participate in yet another monumental Artistic footprint on our thriving, cultural, creative city!!!