Vadnais Heights

Final photos of the Vadnais Heights mural project.

Community

The principal selected the cafeteria wall mural "Community." This mural she felt was most representative of the school and also visually fun and interesting. With the many different house styles representing the culturally diverse community and kids waving to neighbors representing the small town community feel.

This sketch shows detail and layout in a format that Greg would use to paint the actual mural.

Vadnais Heights

Last week Greg did a really fun job at a school in Vadnais Heights. After talking with the principal and taking a tour of the area, he put together some thoughts and ideas for the mural. Greg was struck by how Vadnais Heights feels like a small community, rather than a suburb. The principal had explained that the town had great community spirit and is culturally diverse. Greg thought the mural should reflect both culture and community. He gave her 3 concepts.

First Concept: To represent the diverse community and the beautiful wooded scenery in the area Greg intertwined different trees with different leaf shapes and colors. Trees represent growth and progress, so they are a fitting visual for a school environment. The nests, with young and adult birds, represent growth and nurturing.

Second Concept: Inspired by the Cinderella Ball program that has children study how the story Cinderella is told in different cultures, this concept shows how we live in different cultures. Different houses/dwellings from different cultures around the world are blended to create a unique community. Though we all live in different houses we are all part of one community.

Third Concept: Children's fascination with the small world around them is the vehicle for this concept. Friendly insects, birds and leaves represent the diversity of life in the school and community and reflect the abundance of natural life around the school. The rainbow of color that flows through the critters shows that though we are all different we have a core, that is community, running through us and unifying us. The hundreds of critters will provide something new each time a student looks at the mural.

New Prague Community Education

This summer Greg is working on a project with New Prague Community Education. The project is a series of canvas murals mounted on board. Each mural will represent aspects of learning as we go through life. Students will actively work with Greg on not only the mural design, but also the painting. The first project was done with a preschool class. The class helped Greg come up with ideas of images. Greg created the design and invited preschoolers to help him paint the images. As you can see the images reflect education - how and what we learn as a young child. The young students had a blast painting on the huge canvas.

St. Michael School

These photos were taken while Greg was painting the wall mural at St. Michael. Greg used the lines to not only show the musical staff, but also move your eye throughout the room. He used his computer layouts as a guide, but noticed the room could allow for more instruments, so he added several additional instruments.

Van Horn Public Library

The public library in Pine Island Minnesota is enjoying a treat this week, as Greg makes his layouts a reality. SELCO library officials visited the library on Wednesday, and were thrilled with the results. Greg has been meeting with students several times a day telling them about his work, the process and the art of mural work. The word has been spreading through the schools and now more than eight classes have taken time out of their day to enjoy the art.

Zumbrota Public Library

This week Greg painted a mural at the Zumbrota Public Library and next week we'll be painting at Pine Island. The image here is the mural he painted at Zumbrota. Greg painted the mural to reflect the impact that reading has on us and the excitement and adventure that comes from reading a book. The mural was painted near the teen section of the library. The librarian wanted an image that would make the library fun and inviting and a place for teens to hang out, but also appeal to all ages. The main image in the mural is Zumbrota’s historic covered bridge. It was used as a metaphor as a bridge to another place. Through opening a book we can be transformed to a world of fantasy, action, and excitement. The central image in the mural is a book open with a pop-up of the bridge and beyond it is images that show different worlds that can be accessed through reading.