Capstone Mural Inspires Elementary School Students

Andie Aguirre, Arts Editor

Andrea_Aguirre@csumb.edu

April 7, 2008

What once was a plain wall outside of the multi-purpose room wall at La Mesa Elementary school in Monterey, now serves as a canvas for a vibrant and colorful large-scale mural that contains an uplifting message for students and staff who will see it on a daily basis. Inspirational words written in yellow, red and blue surround a picture of a young boy who is reading a book.

The mural was painted by Paul De Worken and Jaime Sanchez, both seniors and Visual and Public Arts majors, for their capstone project.

Gloria Young, Art Director of the elementary school, said that students and staff of the elementary school loved being a part of the mural and enjoyed watching De Worken and Sanchez paint it. “The design and color are fantastic,” Young said.

The mural, which was a collaborative effort of Visual and Public Art majors and friends De Worken and Sanchez, is titled “Reading Out Loud.”

The message behind the mural is the powerful impact that words can have on people as well as the importance of choosing words wisely. As part of a lesson plan, classes of students were asked to go home and work with their families to choose important, uplifting words for the mural, some words were even translated into their own languages. Some words that students chose for the mural included: family, friendship, unity, education, love and language.

“We wanted to show that the right words to use are the ones that are important to individual, words that are constructive, words that unite and words that do not mistreat,” Sanchez said.

“We hope to inspire not only children at the school, but adults also to use words for justice and truth, and not to use them negatively,” De Worken added.

The mural took them six weeks long to complete and was finished on March 7. The two said they are proud of their work and relieved that it is now complete.

“It has always been a dream of mine to create art in a public place and have people see it and react to it,” De Worken said.

As a team, De Worken and Sanchez have also completed two other murals. One on a window at Mi Familia taqueria in Monterey and one at Mi Tierra taqueria in Watsonville. The two have currently been busy working on a new large-scaled mural at Pajaro Valley High School in Watsonville. They have three more murals lined up for sometime in the near future. The two almost-graduates hope that with these murals they will build up their artwork portfolio and share their art with local and outside communities.

“I think that large scale painting is one of the best means to affect the most number of people, particularly those who do not have access to the ‘elite’ lifestyle which prescribes the leisure and privilege of going to museums and galleries,” said Sanchez.