Apologies for the delay in posting the fabulous FINISHED MURAL, which is displayed on the wall of Pavones’ public school.
We all agree that the final product looks amazing and that it was a huge success. Thank you to Alex and Hadas and all the little helping hands, all of whom made the mural an aesthetically pleasing and culturally-inspiring piece of art!
A Mural Project
After several consecutive Saturdays of preparation, our amateur artists were finally ready to get their hands (and feet) dirty and start painting the mural on Pavones’ public school, Escuela Las Gemelas.
Over the past month, varying groups of children have showed up for weekend workshops with Hadas, a parent and local art teacher, to learn about patterns we find in our environment. With Hadas’ artistic expertise, and some help from the ECC teachers, children were encouraged to think about the uniqueness of the Costa Rican culture and, more specifically, their home in Pavones. With a bit of practice, the children easily discovered how colorful patterns can be and how abundant they are in all areas of our life.
With a professional touch from mural artist Alex Lanau (website), the wave backdrop was a perfect palette for the kids to let loose and find their pattern. I was impressed with their dedication, originality, artistic skills: it really is turning into a piece of art that represents the essence of Pavones.
The mural is looking good so far (as Hadas and Raphel are demonstrating), but stay tuned next week for the finished product.
Take a closer look… ¡Qué lindo!
Mural Painting Project 2009
Last Saturday, Escuela Camino Claro initiated its yearly goal of collaborating with Pavones’ public school, Escuela Las Gemelas, in a project to beautify one rather dull wall.
In the first session of a three-weekend workshop, our crew of ECC participants, Raphel, Haley, and several students, showed up to help out with this community service project. Seeing at least a dozen kids at the school’s Biblioteca (library) on a weekend was quite inspiring: it was a muggy, hot day with a new swell in town and a few soccer partidos going on in the plaza to boot. But, afterall, who wouldn’t want to play with colors, read stories, and make human patterns?
Thanks to Hadas, the art teacher volunteer and co-founder of Pavones’ first library, the project was orquestrated beautifully and the children spent the first session learning how to recognize patterns, find that they are abundant in everyday life, and appreciate patterns throughout different cultures. With the help of Pavones resident and skilled muralist, Alex Lanau (check out his surf art at http://www.myspace.com/alexlanau), the currently bare wall will soon be covered in an aesthetic mesh of unique patters and designs painted by the children. Stay tuned in a few weeks for the final project and in the meantime check out some photos…
Human patterns are FUN (and a little challenging)!
Some of the students designing their own patterns on paper
Raphel and Alex are displaying some of the examples of a finished mural: come back and check in a few weeks for the real thing!
