OUR   FIRST   MURAL

Picture
THE UNFINISHED WORK OF THE ANCESTORS 
IS THE BLUEPRINT FOR MY LIFE

Artist statement:   "This STITCH mural is about combating segregation, giving voice to our struggles, 
healing through storytelling and using art as an act of resistance... art as an act of liberation!"
Acrylic on plywood panels. 16'x8' (2013).  Installed in two locations: Alice's Garden on 20th and Brown and Aztek Inc Tattoo Shop on 1230 S. Cesar Chavez.

                                                       Mural crew:

               Zari Janelle Blackmon                                  Audrey Connor
               Francisco Contreras                                    Josh DelColle
               Chloe Hernandez                                           Kimberly Loper
               Kayla Martinez                                                Yvette Murrell
               Ammar Nsoroma                                           Daisy Romero
               Linda Serna                                                        Barb Whaley


Co-facilitated mural process by Tia Richardson & Jeanette Martín, with a group of 12 racially diverse adults over the span of 3 months in the summer of 2013.
The mural was born from stories the group shared through a series of talking circles about growing up in Milwaukee, statistically ranked as #1 most racially segregated city in the US.   The conversations were guided in one of the indigenous methods used around Turtle Island, which was the process of a talking circle.  The talking circle exposed things such as the need for vulnerability, active listening, and wondering in order to build community amongst all 15 community members.   The stories and the community building that happened amongst the group is what guided the process for peoples narratives to manifest into the mural design and the painting of it.  The narratives is what is at the core of the work.  It is not about the mural itself existing in a public space, but about the process that the group lived with one another, and the commitment to make the stories accessible to the community at large.   Each half of the finished mural is installed at two locations purposefully for the piece to co-exist simultaneously.   We creatively found a way to engage community members to visit another area of the city they might not visit otherwise.
  
This half of the mural is located  at Alice's Garden on the Northside. 
This half of the mural is located at Aztec Ink on the Southside.