Maxwell Park Mosaic Extravaganza!

There is a small city park in Oakland CA on Fleming near High Street 
that now has the most beautiful rest room 
in America - perhaps the world!! 

Since the Spring of 2008 a group of dedicated mosaic artists and 

neighborhood volunteers have incorporated art 
from the neighborhood youth to create four huge 
and separate mosaic murals. 

This group, Friends of Maxwell Park, 

was started by Nancy Karigaca (below, left, with flowers)
from the neighborhood council as part of a park improvement project.
Nancy has been the coordinator & practical leader extraordinaire!
(photo by Phylece Snyder)

Beverly Shalom, above, right, with flowers, has been the artistic director. Other volunteers and artists - including Nommi Alouf, Phylece Snyder, Nancy Heroux, Sarah Hipolito, Laura Nicodemus - and so many more started this huge project by doing one mosaic a year since 2009.

(photo by Phylece Snyder)

Other tireless workers include Bonnie Henriquez and Roberto Costa (first year coordinators), Susan Scolnick (assistant coordinator), Karen Difrumello & Gabriela Nunez (painting and mosaic talent), Krista Keim (a lot of the design work) & Terry Boggs-Moura (worked almost daily on this for over a year). And Daud Abdullah (photo journalist and mosaic talent) who joined them in 2010.

 Three of the walls were mosaicked on-site with neighborhood children 
participating on "Family Days."

 For the back wall (below), several artists (I helped one day) went into neighborhood schools and rec centers to lead groups of children in turning small pieces of their own 

drawings into mosaics that were then used on these walls. 

These murals are each between approximately 180 - 200 square feet in size. The front mosaic being closer to 350 square feet!! And in each you can find all manner of images - from flowers, to people, to cats and dogs, birds, skunks, raccoons, 

to dragons - both small and large!

The front of the building depicts a stream and rainbow in a forest 

with the moon (by Gina Dominguez of Snapshot Mosaics) 
looking over it all. And words of welcome are spelled out 
in many languages.

The "river" was done by Bonnie Henriquez and Beverly Shalom using the tempered glass style of mosaic!

There are even two places with numbers where children can match their height!

The final opening and dedication was held on Saturday, June 23, 2012 where many people showed their love and support for this project.