Glen Park Elementary Spring Mural ~ COMPLETE!

Over the past six weeks, Create Peace Project, under the leadership and project facilitation of Ross Holzman, Izabella Tschig, Laurie Marshall, and Wanda Whitaker, worked with the entire Glen Park Elementary school community. This mural project included the entire 360 Kinder – 5th grade student body population and most of the staff painting together to complete 250 feet of high vibration, multi-color, uplifting and inspirational mural. This was the fifth time Create Peace Project has used the “Inner Peace” mural technique. A technique that allows all participants the freedom and confidence to joyously express themselves with paint. In the first phase of the “Inner Peace” style, students are asked to paint a large simple shape in one color. The shapes can be traditional or made up/abstract. Students can choose the size and placement of their shape on the wall and the color of their preference. We worked for 6 days to cover the expansive stretches of wall space with beautiful solid colored shapes. In the second phase, students are asked to create smaller shapes and patterns within the existing larger shapes on the wall. We continue to allow students the freedom to design the shapes and patterns of their own creation and paint them on the wall where they feel best compliments what is already there. Once our tapestry of color and form and amazing patterns is complete, we enter the third phase, and we let the true magic of this “Inner Peace” technique to be revealed. It was an exciting project to witness the students, teachers and parents continue to marvel at the constantly changing wall. Continuously curious with what was going to happen and how this fabric of bright color and exciting detail was going to make more sense. In the third phase of the project, we chalk the students in joyous celebratory poses, expressing their body in a passionate uplifting form. For this Glen Park Mural we chalked 98 students and 2 teachers: 100 participants came to life on the 250 feet of mural. Once the figures forms were chalked, we block out the negative space between them to reveal the bright and powerful silhouettes popping from the wall. In addition to the 100 figures, we asked classrooms to share simple uplifting words or phrases that they wanted to see in the mural. Numerous inspiring words and phrases were added to the wall, along with complimentary images and accents in the same way, by painting around them and blocking out the negative space to reveal the word or image from the brightly painted landscape behind. This was the best mural project Create Peace Project has led to date and you can see images of the process from start to finish on our gallery page here: https://plus.google.com/photos/103232769074537012489/albums/6132151803906719217?authkey=CNTYgd2YjpaORA