I recently completed a mural project that I amparticularly proud to have been a part of.
Back in August I received an email from a group named
YAWAV - Young Asian Women Against Violence - who had been awarded a grant by
the city of San Francisco to create a mural about peace and anti-violence
in their building in downtown SF.
I learned while working with this group that in SF there are about 100 homicides per year but over 5,000 instances of domestic violence in that same time period. And each instance of violence can lead to a homicide.
These young women committed themselves to educating other teens
about the problems of violence in their community.
When I first met with them, I was greeted by 6 smiling and eager
teenage girls and their peer leader, Den.
They laid out their ideas for an anti-violence mural and I had to catch my breath! The artist, Susanna, had come up with a very intricate drawing involving the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, a Mayan temple and the Great Wall of China as well as many other images. I knew this could not be done - not by a group of inexperienced artists and volunteers in a few months, at any rate! But I listened to their ideas about the message of the mural, gave my professional feedback and Susanna went back to her drawing board.
A gifted and intelligent artist, she came back with a perfect drawing that would be
easy for the group to execute and yet told the story they wanted to tell.
This is her second drawing and the one we went with.
The mural is called Project Peaces and is meant to impart the feeling that the "sun" of peace and community can extinguish the "flames" of violence and hatred if all the diverse people of the world work together.
This mural was to be painted on the wall of a staircase and unfold as you walk up the stairs. As you can see it is narrow and therefore almost impossible to photograph!
The process began with the YAWAV girls and the volunteers cleaning and prepping the area. Then we drew the image onto the wall and started painting.
When one first walks in the front door, one is immediately struck by flames and words of violence with a black mosaic bird of doom looming overhead.
The "Crow" is about 18" from wingtip to wingtip and is made of black glass, with flecks of purple, on Easyboard.
As the mural's story unfolds the viewer comes upon a line of children of all ethnicities holding a hose which is dousing the flames.
The "hose" originates at the top of the stairs in a sun filled with words of love, friendship, community and peace. A mosaic dove flies from the sun.
The "Dove" is approximately 18" tall and is made of mirror on Easyboard.
The flags of many nations come together to create a large peace sign over the children.
And sprinkled throughout the mural are mosaic pieces in the shapes of hearts, flowers, rainbows and peace signs created by these multitalented young women to further support their positive message of peaceful coexistence.
Part of the girls' vision was to have mosaics be a part of their mural.
So one Saturday afternoon was spent making glass marble mosaics.
All the substrate shapes had been designed and cut out by me in my home studio. After a short lesson, the girls began work and filled their pieces with trinkets of personal significance to them.
Then I took them home and grouted them. The next Saturday we adhered them to the wall. This mural and those mosaic pieces will stand for a very very long time as a tribute to their vision and hard work.
Of course, between mosaics, painting, SATs, dances and Senior Boat, sometimes
they got exhausted and had to take a break!
Here is a photo of us at the opening ceremony
for Project Peaces, November 21, 2008.
The young women of YAWAV are:
Jenny Vuong - a lively personality who loves to share ideas
Julie Youn - a strong friend who is also the life of the party
Leslie Yip - a tough cookie who is always ready for a laugh
Kelly Liu - a sweet joker and storyteller
Kathie Huang - she's filled with spunk, wit and a willingness to help her friends
Susanna Cheng - the always-happy swimmer and the mural's main artist
and this is their beloved Peer Leader, Den Quinsay.
Here I am inspecting the finished product one last time after the ceremony.
I wish the YAWAV girls luck in everything they do in their lives.
This was definitely a memorable experience for me!
Learn more about YAWAV by going to their website here.
YAWAV - Young Asian Women Against Violence - who had been awarded a grant by
the city of San Francisco to create a mural about peace and anti-violence
in their building in downtown SF.
I learned while working with this group that in SF there are about 100 homicides per year but over 5,000 instances of domestic violence in that same time period. And each instance of violence can lead to a homicide.
These young women committed themselves to educating other teens
about the problems of violence in their community.
When I first met with them, I was greeted by 6 smiling and eagerteenage girls and their peer leader, Den.
They laid out their ideas for an anti-violence mural and I had to catch my breath! The artist, Susanna, had come up with a very intricate drawing involving the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, a Mayan temple and the Great Wall of China as well as many other images. I knew this could not be done - not by a group of inexperienced artists and volunteers in a few months, at any rate! But I listened to their ideas about the message of the mural, gave my professional feedback and Susanna went back to her drawing board.
A gifted and intelligent artist, she came back with a perfect drawing that would beeasy for the group to execute and yet told the story they wanted to tell.
This is her second drawing and the one we went with.The mural is called Project Peaces and is meant to impart the feeling that the "sun" of peace and community can extinguish the "flames" of violence and hatred if all the diverse people of the world work together.
This mural was to be painted on the wall of a staircase and unfold as you walk up the stairs. As you can see it is narrow and therefore almost impossible to photograph!
The process began with the YAWAV girls and the volunteers cleaning and prepping the area. Then we drew the image onto the wall and started painting.
When one first walks in the front door, one is immediately struck by flames and words of violence with a black mosaic bird of doom looming overhead.
The "Crow" is about 18" from wingtip to wingtip and is made of black glass, with flecks of purple, on Easyboard.
As the mural's story unfolds the viewer comes upon a line of children of all ethnicities holding a hose which is dousing the flames.
The "hose" originates at the top of the stairs in a sun filled with words of love, friendship, community and peace. A mosaic dove flies from the sun.
The "Dove" is approximately 18" tall and is made of mirror on Easyboard.
The flags of many nations come together to create a large peace sign over the children.
And sprinkled throughout the mural are mosaic pieces in the shapes of hearts, flowers, rainbows and peace signs created by these multitalented young women to further support their positive message of peaceful coexistence.
Part of the girls' vision was to have mosaics be a part of their mural.So one Saturday afternoon was spent making glass marble mosaics.
All the substrate shapes had been designed and cut out by me in my home studio. After a short lesson, the girls began work and filled their pieces with trinkets of personal significance to them.
Then I took them home and grouted them. The next Saturday we adhered them to the wall. This mural and those mosaic pieces will stand for a very very long time as a tribute to their vision and hard work.
Of course, between mosaics, painting, SATs, dances and Senior Boat, sometimesthey got exhausted and had to take a break!
Here is a photo of us at the opening ceremonyfor Project Peaces, November 21, 2008.
The young women of YAWAV are:
Jenny Vuong - a lively personality who loves to share ideas
Julie Youn - a strong friend who is also the life of the party
Leslie Yip - a tough cookie who is always ready for a laugh
Kelly Liu - a sweet joker and storyteller
Kathie Huang - she's filled with spunk, wit and a willingness to help her friends
Susanna Cheng - the always-happy swimmer and the mural's main artist
and this is their beloved Peer Leader, Den Quinsay.
Here I am inspecting the finished product one last time after the ceremony.I wish the YAWAV girls luck in everything they do in their lives.
This was definitely a memorable experience for me!
Learn more about YAWAV by going to their website here.
