Sunday, June 20, 2010

Work in Progress--Kitchen Mural at Buckman Elementary

Buckman Elementary, where Indigo has been going since Kindergarten (only one year left, omg!!) is a fantastic arts focus school. Art is integrated into every aspect of the curriculum. The kids have tons of great experiences with visual and performing arts.

But to be honest, for an art school there is very little permanent art on interior of the building. So you can imagine how excited I was when the PTA approached me to create a mural spanning a huge wall in the kitchen! The wall is about 10' x 23', and the mural wraps around onto the doors on either side, plus I'll be adding some smatterings on the hood above the oven, a door in the back of the room, and an area of the wall in the hallway. Holy huge project, Batman!

As an arts school, naturally it attracts a lot of parents who not only appreciate the arts but are artists themselves, so I am incredibly honored that someone thought of me to do the work. There is such a grand lack of funding in the public schools, especially for the arts. I don't need to tell you how many schools are losing their art programs altogether. Which makes me feel even luckier that my daughter goes to such a great school, and that, even in times like these, our school sees the value of art and is willing and able to fund new projects.

The kitchen may seem an unlikely place for a giant mural, but it is one of the mose deserving. It is an interior room with no windows, mind-numbing fluorescent lights, and horrible yellowish industrial paint (DREARY). But it's a place where children comes every day to get their nourishment and energy for the rest of the day--it should be a cheerful, energetic place! I hope that by the time I'm done, that's exactly what it will be.

5 comments:

Lesley said...

Very cool - what an honor! Looks great so far. I find murals very intimidating! I have friends that paint a mural every July out in Estacada.

Anonymous said...

Hey that is so cool - you must let us see it when it's finished1

LeaKarts said...

Thank you Celia, I definitely will! I'm hoping to take some time-lapse video of part of the process as well, which should be fun!

Lesley, I find them intimidating too, haha! It is really fun and exciting at the same time, though, so totally worth it :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Lea - have you heard about this:

http://ripplesketches.blogspot.com/

I thought you'd want to know. I might even put one of my so-called artworks on there!

LeaKarts said...

Thank you Celia--what a cool blog! I'll have to submit something too!