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Community Art
Posted by Kathy
January 19, 2009
Categories:  Cool Shite
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Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the U.S.  Yesterday I saw this really cool painting of Martin Luther King, Jr. hanging in the lobby of a school.   I tried to find a picture of the painting on the internet, but the best I could find was the photograph the painting was based on (above).

So the cool thing about the painting is that it was a community art project, involving the students, the faculty, and the neighbors surrounding the school.  For a few days in the lobby of the school, there was a lead artist present, along with multiple shades of gray paint laid out in trays (more or less corresponding to the different shades in the original photograph).  Throughout the day, people would come, place their hands palm-side down in one of the paint-filled trays, and the lead artist would show them where to place their handprints.  In the end, there was this really nice painting of Martin Luther King, Jr. made from the handprints of the community.  Fitting, isn’t it?  A community coming together to paint a portrait of a man who spent his life bringing communities together?

Have any of you seen any kind of artwork similar to this?  Something that was made by a community, with its active participation?

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jessica f

January 19, 2009

hi kathy! good morning and happy MLK Day. I think the painting of Martin Luther King made from hand prints is such a wonderful idea. The fact that the painting was done by both students and the community is what makes it even more beautiful, and i wish i got to see how it looked like!

i have yet to see any artwork as creative or as community involved as this one, but there are a bunch of murals across buildings in san francisco (schools mostly). There are murals of ben franklin, Thurgood Marshall, and of people living in the community. It is pretty rad to see them as you make your way across town. :)


MarilyneL

January 19, 2009

The example I can think if is what’s left of the Berlin wall. Amazing art that expresses so much about what happened and how the community was affected by the wall while it stood, as when it fell.


Auntie Kailin

January 19, 2009

That’s a wonderful idea for a community project. I haven’t come across any paintings led by a lead artist as such. However, I have come across a structure in the Dallas Fort Worth Airport a while ago that was a hand made out of several plasters of hands from people in the community. I was in such a hurry trying to catch a flight and traveling with London that I didn’t get a chance to find out more about the structure. I find airports across the world have the most interesting community revolving artwork.