From HERE to NOW - Public Art Mural x Community Engagement

From HERE to NOW is a rotating mural series that seeks to engage the community through group youth participation in the creation of the mural and public artwork. During these isolating and divisive times, Sarah’s goal is to utilize the power of collaborating with young artists in conjunction with public artwork to broadcasting a community a sense of togetherness.

About the project:

The From HERE to NOW mural series is directed by artist/teaching artist Sarah Conarro. Each mural is produced on wood panels by a group of young community members. The panels are created weekly in an outdoor space (i.e. public park, private patio, donated outdoor space), before being installed at the final location. Each week, the newly created mural is swapped out for the past week’s mural, creating a rotating and fresh new mural!

Execution:

Part 1 - Background / Shape Painting

Sarah & the teaching artist team meets young artists in an outdoor space to direct the creation of an abstract, colorful mural background, while teaching young artists about form, color, art history, and technique.

Part 2 - “Dialogue Prompt” / Text On Paintings

With the young artists, Sarah develops the week’s Dialogue Prompt (examples). These phrases will be added to the mural in overlaid text.

Part 3 - Installation

Sarah & the teaching artist team deliver the panels to the mural location for installation. The past week’s mural are deinstalled, and the new mural takes its place.

Part 4 - Repeat!

What is needed:

  • Wall space for installation ***NEEDED

  • Installation ability/crew ***NEEDED - permits/installation of cleats for receiving mural panels. // ***SECURED - crew, drills + 8’ ladder for swapping out murals.

  • Teaching Artists - ****SECURED! Team of 3-4 experienced teaching artists at-the-ready for this project.

  • Connection to young artists in the community ****SECURED! Sarah, director of The Painted Cloud has an email reach of 1,500 people in Brooklyn and has served 562 young artists in the past 3 years.

  • Outdoor space for creation of panels - Tentative plan to use public parks for painting on panels prior to installation. ***SEEKING donated private spaces for panel painting.

Brass Tacks

  • Dimensions - variable

  • Panels

    • Size - variable (limited to 2’ x 3’ max panels that can be transported in a small utility van)

    • Materials - 1/2” - 3/4” thickness Medium Density Overlay (MDO). Cleating system for easy installation / deinstallation.

  • Paint

  • Transportation

    • Panels will be transported to and from installation site by Sarah and her team.

  • Cost - variable

    • Families will sign up through The Painted Cloud website, and will pay by week to participate.

    • Additional funding - to be secured through donations and/or participating businesses and/or fiscal sponsorship.

  • Documentation / Exposure

    • Each aspect of the mural creation will be documented from its creation to its installation.

    • Photos will be shared on social media through instagram accounts of @SarahConarro, @ThePaintedCloud.

    • Photos will be made available to any donors and/or fiscal sponsors for their use.

    • Donors/sponsors are encouraged to employ independent documentation of the project for their own internal purposes.

 
 

Sarah’s credentials

Sarah has spearheaded over 20 community-collaboration public art projects over the last 15 years. Her public art works have ranged from collaborations with public radio, Brooklyn Bridge Park, the New York Public Health Initiative, City & Borough of Juneau (AK capital), as well as communities in rural Alaska. Sarah brings an innate ability to create cohesion and community within her group that reflects the overall objective of the public art work.

Since 2017, Sarah has served as the director of The Painted Cloud studio, practicing community-minded experimentation in the arts. Sarah developed and trained teaching artists, built curriculum, and worked actively in the studio. The Painted Cloud offered workshops and events for adults, after school sessions for elementary and middle school aged-children, and morning sessions for artists as young as 2.5 years old. Every offering of The Painted Cloud focused on learning and experimenting with a variety of mediums, engaging with the community (Art Trek field trips, visiting artists, EVENTS+WORKSHOPS, DIY public art), and using art as a vessel for observing the relationship of the individual to their immediate community and the community at large.

Every project that Sarah creates has community and dialogue at its core. Uninterested in polarizing audiences, Sarah’s work provides a setting for participants to find common ground through creative and conversational exchange.