VOLUNTEER WORK
Greetings from Middletown VA - Mural
This mural is in the Town Park in Middletown, VA, it was planned in partnership with the Town of Middletown. ALVA held a workshop at the local elementary school with 5th graders who drew their ideas for the designs for the letters, then we used their ideas to fill in the letters in the final design. I helped to design the mural, and the director of ALVA pieced the designs the 5th graders created together. We worked with a small team of volunteers to paint this over a span of 2 weeks, doing our best to stick to the designs the children created. The mural was revealed at the town’s 4th of July celebration in 2022.
Community Painted Parking Space Mural Project
ALVA has partnered with the City of Winchester and the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley to bring public art to Piccadilly Street in Downtown Winchester! I mostly ran the campaign for the call for art on our social media pages, asking artists to submit designs to be chosen for parking space murals. We received over 30 submissions, of which a panel of jurors - myself included - voted on and chose 12 designs to be painted. The spaces have been painted by the artists that designed them, ALVA volunteers, and community volunteers. I created the social media graphics calling for volunteers, edit and post pictures, and update events as needed. On paint days I attended, I helped to draw and paint the designs, organize and instruct the community volunteers, and set up and break down the supplies
As a part of this project, I have been given the opportunity to collaborate with another artist on a large street mural in the middle of an intersection on Piccadilly Street. The design has been finalized, all we have left to do is set a date to paint the mural!
These projects have presented many challenges, the main one being that nobody involved had ever done murals on the street before. Another challenge is that each space has to be started and finished in one day, per the City’s request, so the parking space is not blocked off for more than one day at a time. We have managed to make this work for all 10 parking spaces we have completed so far thanks to all the volunteers that have answered our social media calls for volunteer assistance. Working on this project has been exciting and fulfilling for me.
This was also written about in the local newspaper, The Winchester Star. I was interviewed, along with the director, Abi Gomez, and the artist of the parking space we were painting that day. Read the article here: "Murals Bringing Splash of Color to Piccadilly Street Parking Spots"
2023 UPDATE: I was given the opportunity to design and paint my own parking space mural! I, of course, decided to add a friendly sleeping dragon to our town. The feedback from the community has been amazing so far. It’s amazing to finally have my own personal artwork as a permanent fixture in the city where I grew up!
LOVE/AMOR Sign - Community Built Public Art Installation
More info coming soon! See pictures below for a brief preview.
Little Library Rehabilitation
*Coming soon!