Art for Jacksonville's Youth

I am participating in a crowdfunding event called "One Spark" (onespark.com) in which individuals exhibit their projects and compete to win money to fund their ideas. 

My project is a freestanding mural that will represent what I have to offer the city of Jacksonville in terms of public art for the city itself as well as its public schools.

If I win One Spark 2015 I will use half of my winnings to paint murals in as many Jacksonville public schools as fiscally possible.

This "gofundme" account will serve to aid me in purchasing supplies to carry out my One Spark project to the best of my ability.
Supplies include:
-spray paint
-paint
-paint brushes
-wood screws
-masonite
-2x4s
-flyers & pamphletes to give out to inform the public about my project
- other various materials

This is my project overview:

Public art has always been an inspiration for me in every aspect of life. I believe that art has the power to uplift, inspire, and generally have a positive impact on the quality of life for all people. I want to bring more public art to the city of Jacksonville and to its public schools.

The goal of my project is to demonstrate what I have to offer the city of Jacksonville in terms of public art around the city as well as in public schools.

If I win OneSpark 2015 I plan to use half of my winnings to paint murals in as many public schools as fiscally possible.

My residency in Jacksonville has been somewhat short lived (4 years), but from what I have seen this city is growing and blossoming swiftly. Fortunately public art has been a facet of this growth, and I wish to be part of the continuation of this movement in the city. I also want to bring this movement into public schools.

Public art is a visual representation of the growth and progress that is going on in this city. It provokes happiness, and as I mentioned before it inspires individuals (like me) to follow their heart/dreams, and at the same time contribute to their city.

I believe that the stimulation caused by the increase in public art in Jacksonville and its public schools will have a direct impact on the overall (energy) in this city.













"American cities and towns aspire to be places where people want to live and want to visit. Having a particular community identity, especially in terms of what our towns look like, is becoming even more important in a world where everyplace tends to looks like everyplace else. Places with strong public art expressions break the trend of blandness and sameness, and give communities a stronger
sense of place and identity. Absent public art, we would be absent our human identities."
(http://blog.artsusa.org/artsblog/wp-content/uploads/greenpapers/documents/PublicArtNetwork_GreenPaper.pdf)










My project plan is to build a free-standing wall that stands approximately 12 feet tall and 32 feet in length. The wall will be constructed using sheets of masonite, multiple 2”x4”s, wood screws, etc. I will be painting for approximately 8 hours each day of the One Spark event. The process/production of the mural I paint at One Spark will be a representation/example of what people can expect to experience if I am able to proceed with my vision in Jacksonville beyond/outside of One Spark.

Ideally, my vision is to complete numerous projects/murals around Jacksonville in both public places and public schools. In the production of creating these projects/murals I would like to include students, children, and people of all ages.