Arbor Hill Community Center Finished Mural Project

We helped the children at the Arbor Hill Community Center create a mural about their community and what "community" means to them. These pictures are the final design. They focused on brotherhood, unity, nature, music, books, art, and reaching for the stars.

We finally finished May 9, 2009.

We are grateful for the opportunity that was given to the Artists Cooperative to express what our community means to the longevity and purpose of our group. We thank the Arbor Hill Community Center and the graduate students from SUNY Albany's Urban and Regional Planning Department.

Initial Conceptual Design Information from the Artists Cooperative:

We want this mural to connect with the children, so we had the idea of starting with a child sitting at a desk as the most direct reference to their everyday lives. This child will be surrounded with things s/he uses everyday: paintbrushes, crayons, drawing supplies, papers, books, music. There will be a stereo playing music sitting right next to the child. This stereo will have music notes coming out of the speaker. The music notes will trail to the top of the mural. The music notes will resemble the beginning of thought- or dream-bubbles, referencing daydreaming. These images will be the thoughts and dreams of the child when the child reflects on his/her community. The mini-mural “bubbles” will be the different themes the children came up with during their design workshops. Every theme will be present.

Although we will not be illustrating their exact designs, we will pull from their ideas and create something a little more realistic. Since there were so many ideas coming from the children, we are going to keep the bubbles in that style. They will be very collage-y, but there will be an integrated progression from one idea to the next. Much like the millions of thoughts that run through our heads everyday, there is a distinct system at work, and that system is how one thought creates the next. So, the mural will bring the children from themselves (as represented by the child daydreaming at the desk), to their thoughts of community (mini-murals), to themselves again within their community (the last and largest mini-mural will be of the children planting flowers in their community garden).

Themes:

Brotherhood and Unity— The mural will include images of a handshake, Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama.

Local History— Tying the themes of Brother and Unity into the local community and local history, we will have an image of Henry Johnson near the MLK and Obama section. The mural will include images dealing with the Myers Building and the theme of the Underground Railroad, such as the building itself, a lit lantern, and significant constellations. The mural will also represent contemporary local history, such as last year’s community “block” party and the flowers that the children planted in memory of the young girl who passed away.

Nature and Community— The mural will include children planting flowers in a community garden. The flowers that will be included are tulips and sunflowers, both significant to our community.

The “Arts”— The mural will include books, art supplies, and music— everyday things from the childrens’ lives. We will create these images in the style of Jacob Lawrence, as a subtle reference (angular, colorful figures, objects, and spaces).

Future— We will create a “reach for the stars” theme, which will incorporate the constellations and be a direct reference to Jacob Lawrence’s paintings.