The Community Mural

The Fine Arts Academy ended on Saturday, and each of us artists dispersed in different directions toward our homes. We weren't left without a memory of the artistic community we had there, however, since the community mural was finished. I enjoyed the process of painting it, especially being able to collaborate with other artists, even if they didn't consider themselves painters. The 6 larger bubbles representing each artistic discipline from left to right are: creative writing, instrumental music, theater, dance, visual art, and vocal music. The large orange one has the Missouri Fine Arts Academy logo inside.

 Since I was part of the mural class, I was allowed to help paint the larger discipline bubbles--I primarily worked on the vocal music bubble with the mouth and microphone, on the far right--but each Academy-member was also given a smaller, individual area to work on. A lot of students painted encouraging phrases or images, and shared what they felt empowered them as artists. Since I feel inspired by nature, I decided to paint a droplet of water for mine, so the blue sky in the background could show through. 

This was a great learning experience, especially since it required more human interaction than most painters are used to. I benefited immensely from choosing to sacrifice certain ideas to the good of the group, and learning to appreciate approaches to art that are different than my own. I hope to participate in another mural project someday, and will never forget what each contributor, each artist, takes away from it.