Blackwell Block Party and Mural
Tax deductible
The Blackwell School Alliance is planning a Block Party Event for April 2018, and the creation of a community mural is the cornerstone piece of this event. Blackwell Block Party is an annual one-day festival celebrating and commemorating the diverse culture and the rich heritage of Marfa, Texas.
The Block Party is a family friendly event catering to multiple generations and people of all backgrounds through art, music, dance, stories, food, and events, and is the result of many organizations and individuals creating a shared experience of Marfa pride, ownership, and engagement.
We have two goals for the mural project. The first is a tangible object of public art in Marfa. The second is an inclusive process that involves the community in telling the story of Marfa.
The outcome of a tangible object of art is the impression it leaves on the viewer: beauty, power of story, inclusion, connection, and inspiration. Murals play a role in defining the unique character of a community. Murals themselves can become a destination and an economic driver. In addition, murals and public art can heal. The city of Philadelphia’s famous mural project found benefits included improved neighborhood safety, as one example. And murals reflect and reinforce community identity. Murals can act as a reference point to how individuals and communities shape and enact their identities. Providing images and stories of pride and ownership, and celebrating cultural identification, influences self-image and identity in positive ways.
Collaboration is the inclusive process that goes into designing a mural, and our second—but by no means secondary—outcome. Again, referring to Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program, Director Jane Golden said, “While the end products—the works of public art—are always beautiful, their deeper value lies in the conversation we create, the connections we build, and the legacy of relationships we foster along the way, often with transformative results.” We want that for Marfa!
To that end, we have engaged an experienced muralist from El Paso to lead a community conversation toward the creation of a mural. Last year, Jesus “Cimi” Alvarado worked with Marfa high school students through a project created by the Chinati Foundation’s education department. Michael Roch and his colleagues took students to El Paso, to Cimi’s studio, to learn about murals: the history of the art form, why we make murals, and how the students could depict their lives and values on canvas. The result was a series of really stunning large scale works by the students.
Cimi has completed several murals in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio through working with community members to develop important themes and images in the murals. He will conduct such meetings and conversations with people in Marfa, with the cooperation of the Blackwell School Alliance and partners, to create a Marfa-specific mural: finding hidden stories, honoring elders, embracing Marfa’s diverse history and culture, and empowering youth.
Cimi’s method is to assemble images provided by the community and develop a cohesive montage. Once community representatives approve the final mural proposal, Cimi uses a method of painting on fabric in his studio. A few days before the event in April, Cimi brings the finished fabric to Marfa and together with local volunteers installs the mural—not unlike putting up wallpaper with wheat paste, only this installation is permanent. The mural debuts as the highlight of the Blackwell Block Party.
The Block Party is a family friendly event catering to multiple generations and people of all backgrounds through art, music, dance, stories, food, and events, and is the result of many organizations and individuals creating a shared experience of Marfa pride, ownership, and engagement.
We have two goals for the mural project. The first is a tangible object of public art in Marfa. The second is an inclusive process that involves the community in telling the story of Marfa.
The outcome of a tangible object of art is the impression it leaves on the viewer: beauty, power of story, inclusion, connection, and inspiration. Murals play a role in defining the unique character of a community. Murals themselves can become a destination and an economic driver. In addition, murals and public art can heal. The city of Philadelphia’s famous mural project found benefits included improved neighborhood safety, as one example. And murals reflect and reinforce community identity. Murals can act as a reference point to how individuals and communities shape and enact their identities. Providing images and stories of pride and ownership, and celebrating cultural identification, influences self-image and identity in positive ways.
Collaboration is the inclusive process that goes into designing a mural, and our second—but by no means secondary—outcome. Again, referring to Philadelphia’s Mural Arts Program, Director Jane Golden said, “While the end products—the works of public art—are always beautiful, their deeper value lies in the conversation we create, the connections we build, and the legacy of relationships we foster along the way, often with transformative results.” We want that for Marfa!
To that end, we have engaged an experienced muralist from El Paso to lead a community conversation toward the creation of a mural. Last year, Jesus “Cimi” Alvarado worked with Marfa high school students through a project created by the Chinati Foundation’s education department. Michael Roch and his colleagues took students to El Paso, to Cimi’s studio, to learn about murals: the history of the art form, why we make murals, and how the students could depict their lives and values on canvas. The result was a series of really stunning large scale works by the students.
Cimi has completed several murals in El Paso’s Segundo Barrio through working with community members to develop important themes and images in the murals. He will conduct such meetings and conversations with people in Marfa, with the cooperation of the Blackwell School Alliance and partners, to create a Marfa-specific mural: finding hidden stories, honoring elders, embracing Marfa’s diverse history and culture, and empowering youth.
Cimi’s method is to assemble images provided by the community and develop a cohesive montage. Once community representatives approve the final mural proposal, Cimi uses a method of painting on fabric in his studio. A few days before the event in April, Cimi brings the finished fabric to Marfa and together with local volunteers installs the mural—not unlike putting up wallpaper with wheat paste, only this installation is permanent. The mural debuts as the highlight of the Blackwell Block Party.
Organizer
Blackwell School Alliance
Organizer
Marfa, TX
Blackwell School Alliance
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
