Painting from the Same Palette

Comment here to join the conversation.

There is a lot of food insecurity in the Mason Square area, where this mural will be painted. A community organization, the Concerned Citizens of Mason Square, has organized a farmer’s market for the past two years that provides fresh, organic produce at affordable prices. Doing so, the community has been attempting to address health issues that are connected to living with poverty, such as limited access to chemically untreated or nutrition-rich foods and the small packages allocated to food program recipients. The farmer’s market is also generating an alternative local economy over which community members have control, which differs greatly from increasingly globalized economies that impoverish and degenerate local communities worldwide.

I hope that helps! I look forward to seeing how this mural materializes.

I would like to mention that I am not, and never have been, a member of the Mason Square community. Rather, my comments above were informed by a limited amount of observation and research done through a course in partnership with the Concerned Citizens of Mason Square.

Hello

I think that the mural should be about about stopping the violence in Springfield and/or the different cultures that are found in Springfield. Working with youth in the city to make it a better community for their future. You may even speak to a variety of students from the area and programs such as the Y, Boys and Girls Club, Mt. Caramel….etc

I think that the mural needs to reflect the struggles and triumphs of the city. I teach at one of the middle schools in the area, and my students recently created a smaller mural on this very topic. The ideas for their mural were very creative, and I would love to see some of them on the mural to be painted. They called their mural a ‘community cork board.’ It was painted to look like cork board and had painted photographs, drawings, and even a to-do list. Some of the images were striking- there was a picture of a flower donating its petals to a homeless person. There was an image labeled ‘Anthony’s First Words’ with a picture of a person spray painting the words ‘What Community?’ on a building. The To-do list had things like ‘Recycle our community’ and ‘Turn violence into friendship.’ And there was also a picture of an unemployment office with a line of people exiting, all of which had reduce/reuse/recycle signs instead of faces. I think that these ideas that the kids came up with are powerful images and could definitely be used for this mural.

I would like to know at what time you will be painting. Friends and I would like to stop by.
Thanks

Thanks for your input.
Please come to the unveiling of the Springfield Mural at the Dunbar Community Center Friday April 9 6:30pm All are very welcome!
A link to a map can be found on the unveiling page of this website.