Connecting People with Special Needs to the Community through Art!
"This is more than art. It's people, creating connections through art. It's messy, chaotic at times but always fun and the end result is an incredible piece of public art representing the community spirit that created it." - Ernie Merlán
Once the design has been developed, which can take up to 10 days working with a dedicated Muralism artist to bring your design ideas to reality and the actual process of painting a mural takes between two and four weeks. Co-ordinating the public paint day takes some time and depends on how big or small an event you want it to be but allow at least 2 weeks.
First step is to connect with The Muralism Crew by emailing Sara at [email protected] to set a time to meet on Zoom and talk through your project plan and design. We'll cover everything from permits, to dates, to materials, design decision and the all important community paint event.
The most important contribution you as a community can make to this project is to bring yourselves, your time and your imagination - we will bring everything else. No experience neccessary - that's what we're here for.
We work with you to draft, draft and draft again the design for your project. THis all happens on Zoom and Ernie will use the images you share of the wall etc. to create a mock version of the design for input and final sign off.
Once the design is approved a date will be agreed upon for the two teams to being the project. We'll share with you a project plan to ensure the materials etc. are sourced in advance (by which team is tbc!) and talk through any health and safety requirements. We'll also estimate the number of volunteers that will be needed so you can start to recuit and inspire people in your network!
A few days out from the public paint day the Muralism Team will come to the project location to wash and prime the wall surface before transferring the art as a paint-by-number mural. Toolkit coming soon!
This is followed by a Public Paint Day when our broad group of Muralism physically and mentally diverse Artists join folks from other nonprofits, corporate teams and locals to color in the numbered spaces. These Public Paint Days are more like a community festival with snacks and music to go with your brush and paint.
The end result? Your imagined design is now a beautiful work of art. Big and Bold and a fantastic asset to your community.
We bring drop cloths etc. to ensure the space is left as clean as it was - if not cleaner!
Our Muralism Crew comes back after the Public Paint Days to clean up the drips and focus on the fine details of the art work. We coat the mural with a two-step graffiti protective coating.
Togehter we invite the public to come back for a Ribbon-Cutting with officials and local media. Our Artists work and celebrate alongside everyday people doing what they love. The whole process is documented in an inspiring video.
