Transcript

Location: Spence Elementary, Across the Universe Mural

 

My name is Mike Martino. I was one of the people who helped design and paint a small out building for Harry Spence for Across the Universe Mural. As you’re looking at this sign, behind you is a small shed. The first side that faces you is showing some of the cultural aspects we tried to express. As we worked on this project, Ronnah Metz, the art teacher here at Spence who approached me about doing this project originally, had the kids make up images that they thought would go there. 

 

We felt pretty good about having a majority of them being able to put their images on there and have a hand in painting this. The little ones, of course, they were just helping to paint some of the bottom areas. But the older kids, they had their pattern and we would tell them where to place it and then we help them. We’d hold the paint for them. They’d hold the brush, and they would go ahead and paint their lines of their shape, and we would add some dots for stars later on to make it a constellation. So take a look at all of those, and you can appreciate what the kids did. 

 

What’s important about the visual arts and teaching kids, for one thing, it’s one of the humanities. It’s what makes us human. These are what we need to live as a society, a civil society. And it creates a lot of joy in your life, and if your life isn’t joyful, it can actually help you get through the pain. The other thing I think is very important is: children need to see the beauty in life. It’s a great skill, and if you practice it, you can turn it on any time you want. You can look at anything, and I mean almost anything, and you look at the way the light plays on it, the shadows are formed, the textures, how it plays into the rest of the composition that you’re looking at. Whether it’s a tree or a garbage can, I don’t care, you can understand and see the beauty in life and especially if you look at people.