Have you driven by the mural site lately? There is something blooming from a small, dry crack on the wall.... an artist is growing trees from concrete.
While the weather today is brisk and cold, spring has officially arrived at 42nd and Mission Road!
I will post full details and photos by the end of the week.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Friday, December 19, 2008
to give...
tis the season, eh?
what a great snow fall we had a couple days ago. I was lucky enough to visit a day care center yesterday; I read one of my favorite children's books, "The Snowy Day" to each of the classes I visited. Peter is the main character and he wears the sweetest little red snowsuit on his adventures.
'he made a smiling snow man and he made snow angels....crunch, crunch, crunch, his feet sank into the snow'...;-)
I'd like to wish you all a happy holiday season, and ask you to consider taking the time to check your mailbox in the next couple of days. Mikey and I are hoping to raise a bit of funds to compensate Joe on his efforts at Rosedale Middle School this fall.
He has visited the 8th grade art class twice a week for the last month and says the ideas and collaobration efforts are coming along beauitfully. I hope to ask him a few questions about his experience so that I may share them with you.
As for raising of funds, we will send out letters asking for small donations of $25 dollars. All we need is 30 people to donate and we'll have Joe taken care of and ready to work next spring.
We will not let the the grant news bear down us....we're hoping for snow angels.
cheers.
~A
what a great snow fall we had a couple days ago. I was lucky enough to visit a day care center yesterday; I read one of my favorite children's books, "The Snowy Day" to each of the classes I visited. Peter is the main character and he wears the sweetest little red snowsuit on his adventures.
'he made a smiling snow man and he made snow angels....crunch, crunch, crunch, his feet sank into the snow'...;-)
I'd like to wish you all a happy holiday season, and ask you to consider taking the time to check your mailbox in the next couple of days. Mikey and I are hoping to raise a bit of funds to compensate Joe on his efforts at Rosedale Middle School this fall.
He has visited the 8th grade art class twice a week for the last month and says the ideas and collaobration efforts are coming along beauitfully. I hope to ask him a few questions about his experience so that I may share them with you.
As for raising of funds, we will send out letters asking for small donations of $25 dollars. All we need is 30 people to donate and we'll have Joe taken care of and ready to work next spring.
We will not let the the grant news bear down us....we're hoping for snow angels.
cheers.
~A
Monday, December 8, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
grant rescinded
the grant from the kansas arts commission was pulled back....
due to this very uncomfortable economy we are currently living in...
ah,...tough news to receive, eh?
si'.
due to this very uncomfortable economy we are currently living in...
ah,...tough news to receive, eh?
si'.
mural update
A year ago today, the corner of 42nd and Mission Rd sat empty, riddled with trash, the wall bore chipping white and yellow paint, and a deep frost spat out by Old Man Winter covered the cracked asphalt.
Once again, Old Man Winter has officially arrived but, the 42nd Street Mural Project is far from cold.
The spring and summer months brought sweet change to the empty lot. White primer covered the cracking paint, tree limbs were pulled out and thrown away, and a garden was created with help of a local church, several local neighborhood youth and a small grant from the Thrivent Foundation.
But the ascetic enhancement, alone, was and could not be enough. The scope of our efforts had always included creating a youth collaborated mural.
Our original plan was to create, during the summer months, a large scale youth inspired mural with the help of Joe Faus.
Our funding hopefuls, however, always seemed to fall short. So in mid summer, when City Visionaries, an art organization that creates murals in KCMO, decided to sponsor (monetarily) a a portion of the project, we knew we had to shift our originals plans a bit. With limited time and funds, Mikey was able to secure the help of a local artist by the name of Holly Swangstu. She was a friend of Joe's and agreed to do two art enriched focus groups with youth from Rosedale and in turn take their ideas and create a collaborative 'art frame' for the site.
This endeavor would indeed leave a large portion of the wall white yet we believed the creativity displayed would yield a hopeful approach to the future of the lot.
Holly efforts have done just that.
After meeting with 6 to 8 young people, all of which attend school at Rosedale Middle Holly was able to pull the 'groups' ideas into a collaborative art piece.
By the end of august, at last, there was color on the walls of 42nd and Mission Road.
The work however isn't done, for there is still a plethora of white space on the walls. Holly's frame, though, has become the catalyst to an idea Mikey Fletcher likes to call the revolving mural...
Once again, Old Man Winter has officially arrived but, the 42nd Street Mural Project is far from cold.
The spring and summer months brought sweet change to the empty lot. White primer covered the cracking paint, tree limbs were pulled out and thrown away, and a garden was created with help of a local church, several local neighborhood youth and a small grant from the Thrivent Foundation.
But the ascetic enhancement, alone, was and could not be enough. The scope of our efforts had always included creating a youth collaborated mural.
Our original plan was to create, during the summer months, a large scale youth inspired mural with the help of Joe Faus.
Our funding hopefuls, however, always seemed to fall short. So in mid summer, when City Visionaries, an art organization that creates murals in KCMO, decided to sponsor (monetarily) a a portion of the project, we knew we had to shift our originals plans a bit. With limited time and funds, Mikey was able to secure the help of a local artist by the name of Holly Swangstu. She was a friend of Joe's and agreed to do two art enriched focus groups with youth from Rosedale and in turn take their ideas and create a collaborative 'art frame' for the site.
This endeavor would indeed leave a large portion of the wall white yet we believed the creativity displayed would yield a hopeful approach to the future of the lot.
Holly efforts have done just that.
After meeting with 6 to 8 young people, all of which attend school at Rosedale Middle Holly was able to pull the 'groups' ideas into a collaborative art piece.
By the end of august, at last, there was color on the walls of 42nd and Mission Road.
The work however isn't done, for there is still a plethora of white space on the walls. Holly's frame, though, has become the catalyst to an idea Mikey Fletcher likes to call the revolving mural...
Monday, November 3, 2008
kansas arts... at last.
mikey called me today with good news.
wendy was contacted last week by the kansas arts commission. remember that grant we worked on last year? well finally, at last... that money has come to light. it's $2000.00 dollar grant.
now,
2 grand is a great start for the second tier of this project. while we will still have to seek further funding... receiving this grant is great, great news... makes one hopeful... and as one of my teenage volunteers (hannah zimmerman) here at the library told me the other day... if you don't have hope, you have nothing.
eh?
~A
ps. i went to vote early today. the line was wrapped around and around and around and around all of olathe. looks like it's tmrw for me... ;-)cheers.
wendy was contacted last week by the kansas arts commission. remember that grant we worked on last year? well finally, at last... that money has come to light. it's $2000.00 dollar grant.
now,
2 grand is a great start for the second tier of this project. while we will still have to seek further funding... receiving this grant is great, great news... makes one hopeful... and as one of my teenage volunteers (hannah zimmerman) here at the library told me the other day... if you don't have hope, you have nothing.
eh?
~A
ps. i went to vote early today. the line was wrapped around and around and around and around all of olathe. looks like it's tmrw for me... ;-)cheers.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
it's the fall. the unfallen apple holds its' brightness a little longer into the blue air. holds the idea. it can be brighter.
fall has arrived, eh? yes indeed.
I've found myself once again inudated with 'things to do'... 'things to prepare for'... and 'things to get done'. I apologize for my absence.
the first stage of the 42nd mural project is just about done. holly will work a bit more on the pillars... she will soften the red and blue hue so as to steer clear of any 'gang' association.
Mikey and I went to the School Board meeting two weeks ago and talked to them briefly about the project. 3 minutes is all we got. ;-)
Joe will venture into Rosedale Middle School at the first of the month to work with the
8th grade art students.
We still need to find funding. 'still' may always be the adverb to reckon with...
we will simply let it be our motivator, eh?
I will write an update on the mural project for the RDA this next month... mostly to say...
hold on to the idea...
cheers.
~A
I've found myself once again inudated with 'things to do'... 'things to prepare for'... and 'things to get done'. I apologize for my absence.
the first stage of the 42nd mural project is just about done. holly will work a bit more on the pillars... she will soften the red and blue hue so as to steer clear of any 'gang' association.
Mikey and I went to the School Board meeting two weeks ago and talked to them briefly about the project. 3 minutes is all we got. ;-)
Joe will venture into Rosedale Middle School at the first of the month to work with the
8th grade art students.
We still need to find funding. 'still' may always be the adverb to reckon with...
we will simply let it be our motivator, eh?
I will write an update on the mural project for the RDA this next month... mostly to say...
hold on to the idea...
cheers.
~A
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