Mural Walk: Downtown: January 13th

• The murals were colorful. -Abi
• We got to see many artworks. - Sean
• The murals were very creative. - Tyler
• I thought the Couchfire Collective mural was very interesting. - Craig
• It was a cool experience to walk downtown and look at the murals even though it was freezing outside. - Angela
• Each mural was unique. - Nolan
• It was nice to see the artistic side of Columbus.   - Rebecca
• I liked walking downtown looking at murals and talking with my classmates. - Jacob

This was our first mural walk and it was cold!  We decided that in order to be prepared to paint our own mural, we should research the Columbus murals that are already in existence.  We saw several works of art: "Sunflowers in the Windstorm" located at Gay St. and Grant St. painted by Tamera Peterson based off the painting By Emil Nolde, a collaborated three dimensional mural created by Columbus artist group "The Couchfire Collective" located off of Gay St., and a graffiti mural located on Main St. on the side of "The Main Bar".

Aminah Robinson: Mural Walk Januray 13th

We began our first mural walk at the main branch of Columbus' Public Library.  The first mural we looked at is Aminah Robinson and is located on the library's grand staircase.  Afterwards, we walked over to 480 E. Broad St. to view Robinson's "A Street Called Home".  We discussed how this mural depicted the community of Columbus, a concept that we are exploring for our own mural.

The Obama Mural: January 8th

Today we went to visit the Obama Mural on 4th and 11th by Kelly's Carryout. We met and interviewed two of the artists that worked on the mural, Loring and Julius. We found out that one of the reasons the mural was created was to help inspire people who live in the neighborhood. Inspiration was created through the inclusion of a Martin Lurther King Quote:

If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.

We prepared interview questions for Loring and Julius such as how they came up with their composition for the mural and how much the supplies cost.  Loring and Julius told us that they had a budget of $400 and that they spent a total of 10 days on the mural.  They also told us about how the creation of the mural brought the community together.  Later we discussed how public art can be a powerful way to inspire a community.

Check out the link to the video of the creation of the mural on YouTube!