Hundreds can say ‘I painted that’ when mural is unveiled Aug. 20

Unique process allowed people to participate in seven painting parties held throughout neighborhood

By TESHA M. CHRISTENSEN

Over the spring and summer of 2015, hundreds of people of all ages helped create a massive 2,000-square-foot mural on the wall facing the playground at Folwell Performing Arts School (3611 20th Ave. S.).

The mural celebrates connections.

Photo right: The new mural at Folwell Performing Arts School faces the playground. When complete, the 2,000-square-foot mural will cover the majority of the south-facing walls. Overseeing the project was muralist Greta McLain who attended the performing arts school when it was located in the Ramsey school building. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

It is the result of a collaboration between Folwell School staff and administration, the Minnesota State Arts Board, Corcoran Neighborhood Association and Standish-Ericsson Neighborhood Association (SENA).

According artist Greta McLain, the Connections Gallery at Roosevelt High School inspired the mural.

“We want to make visible the connections between the school communities and the school anmcd the community,” said McLain, who has also recently worked on a mural in the Roosevelt entryway. “We also wanted to showcase the fabulous arts programming that makes Folwell a super unique school in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) system.”

“Images in the mural speak to how we are all strands in a great braid/community weaving,” she pointed out. “Those strands also represent waterways that connect us back to the land and Minnesota. There are images that flow through the different panels linking them together: images that speak to migrations and transformation (butterflies and flying geese both based on kid drawings); marigolds that are culturally significant in Mexican culture and also grow everywhere here in the summer; and the ribbons/waterways that weave through the whole piece.”

Photo right: The making of the mural was a several-step process that involved tracing guidelines onto the fabric, painting the undercoating and then painting top layers and details while it was in the studio. Next it was glued to the Folwell wall and touched up. (Photo submitted)

The main background pattern was created by a Roosevelt High School student and again links the schools. There are multiple references to “home,” kids wearing their “home” on their heads and playing in their neighborhood (houses), as well is in the final panel—a family looking together at a map and pointing to here as home.

“Throughout the work I wanted to make reference to that childlike innocence and openness that kids so easily exhibit that we often loose as we get older; the ability to connect and play together overcoming language/cultural/class/etc. differences,” explained McLain.

“Since this is the ‘Connections’ mural, I wanted to seed that idea throughout the whole work, with the hope that it can grow as a quality both within the school and in its surrounding community.”

McLain has facilitated various projects in the MPS, including murals at Windom, Ramsey IFAC, El Colegio, Andersen Elementary, Green Central and South High School. She has led some graffiti abatement projects and strongly believes in and has been witness to the positive results of providing a productive outlet for youth creativity.

McLain was awarded ‘El Fuerte de Barragan’ for artistic and community excellence for the mural Construyendo el Futuro with artist Melina Slobodian in 2009. She was a recent participant in the Bush fellowship program, Creative Community Leadership Institute.

Student helped design the mural

Folwell students under the direction of art teacher Alex Berry attended design activities, and there was an after school group that met weekly to work on the painting this spring. Four high school students worked as interns on the project, courtesy of the grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Those students were Larry Whiten (South High), Stephanie Palacios (Roosevelt), Najma Omar (Roosevelt), and Evy Morgan (Roosevelt). Lead Assistant/Project Manager was Claudia Valentino with the help of Assistant Vivi Grieco.

“The fabrication took place in the Folwell Art Room, as well as in seven different locations throughout the neighborhoods, bringing the making of the mural to the streets,” said McLain.

‘I painted that!’

By using an innovative, indirect mural technique called the parachute design process, the mural was painted onto fabric and then assembled into larger panels and attached to the building’s south-facing walls. This process preserved the historic masonry brick exterior at Folwell and allowed many people to paint without climbing scaffolding.

Seven painting parties were held between April and June. They were spread out at Corcoran Park, Nokomis Healthy Seniors, Folwell, Roosevelt, Midtown Farmers Market and Sibley Park.

Photo left: Photo right: Nokomis Healthy Seniors and students came together to paint during one of seven painting parties held in the neighborhood throughout the spring and summer of 2015. (Photo submitted)

Folwell Fine Arts Coordinator Gabrielle Bliss said she loved the parachute cloth process because everyone could participate.

“Hundreds of people from the greater community painted the mural, and will be able to point up to the mural when completed and say ‘I painted that!’” observed SENA Board President Molly McCartney.

Community outreach was used at design events and painting parties. Folwell has a large population of Spanish-speaking students and families, so all information and communications were translated, and bilingual school staff and muralists introduced events and provided painting instruction. There was food and music, and the design and painting work was held in conjunction with other events like school performances. They also incorporated the project into neighborhood events like a soup supper, holiday tree lighting ceremony, and ice cream social.

There were several steps involved in the mural. First, workers projected an image of a piece of the mural onto a sheet of canvas. Once projected, the artists traced guidelines that helped them paint the image. Next, interns worked on the undercoating, which was the base layer of paint. After the undercoating was complete, the canvas went to McLain and her assistants, who painted layers on top of the base coat and added fine details to the mural.

Installation on the wall began on July 13 and lasted three weeks.

Photo left: Project manager Claudia Valentino (right) and Bernardo Reyes work to install the mural on the wall on Wed., July 15. “The people who get to look at it every day got to be a part of it,” remarked Reyes. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

Beautiful reminder of connections

McCartney sends her two children to Folwell. “Through design and painting events, I think the mural has already added value to our neighborhoods. It has created spaces and opportunities for us to gather together and imagine the ways in which we are connected,” she said.

“The final product—the mural—is going to add a beautiful visual reminder of those connections between the school and community, and that Folwell is once again a vibrant place.”

Folwell now a performing arts magnet

“The mural both gave the students a public art making experience and announces to the community and world that we are an arts-focused school,” said Bliss. “For many years Folwell was a community middle school, then the school was closed for five years, and now it has reopened as a new school. We want the neighbors to know.”

“The mural project is a great way to introduce the school to the neighbors and develop new relationships,” observed McCartney.

Folwell Performing Arts Magnet is a K-8 MPS Magnet school that emphasizes learning in, and through, the arts.

This fall, the program will be starting its fourth year in the Folwell building; prior to that the school was located in the Ramsey School building on Nicollet Ave. and 50th St.

Folwell infuses arts into the curriculum and offers a variety of performing arts opportunities such as band, choir, dance, media, orchestra, theater, and visual arts.

The school staff team believes that learning through the arts increases achievement in all areas.

Most Folwell students and families live in south Minneapolis, and the school population is as diverse as the city.

“Folwell is a good fit for our kids because it is a good school —they are happy there and are thriving academically,” said McCartney. “The music programs are great, and kids are exposed to so many styles—from mariachi to rock-n-roll!

She added, “I also like that it is a K-8 campus and has a diverse population of students and staff. Students also wear uniforms, which makes early mornings pretty easy!”

Unveiling Aug. 20

The community is invited to an unveiling of the mural during the back-to-school night on Aug. 20 at Folwell School. A presentation will occur from 4-5pm, and then there will be a dinner.

Photo right: Eamonn McLain, brother to mural artist Greta McLain, pulls out a rolled up canvas before going up on the lift to install it on July 15. Installation began on July 13 and lasted three weeks. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

“I envision this mural will seed connections between the community and the school while showcasing the fabulous students and their art making!” said McLain. “Hopefully it is the beginning of many more collaborations between the school and the neighborhoods!”

You can find more information at https://folwellconnectionsmural.wordpress.com.

SENA needs to fund raise approximately $5,000 for matching funds. Find out more at http://www.standish-ericsson.org or contact the SENA office at 612-721-1601.