Unveiled Mural on Virtues

Over a two-month period, two children from Science & Arts Academy of Des Plaines worked on creating a unique mural on the theme for their current academic year: Virtues. The team at Painting in Partnership conceived this project and facilitated its creative process.
The official unveiling of the mural took place on October 24th, in front of a gymnasium full of hundreds of students, family and friends. Our two artists, Anna and Juliana, had the honor of narrating the meaning of their creation. They were excited and surely up to the task. Everyone enjoyed their heart-felt presentation.
To complete the experience, we asked them to tell us what they learned from this mural painting experience. Mary Helen, one of the moms, came up with a series of insightful questions for them. Here are some extracts:

How was the mural painting experience different from what you expected? Is there any part of the mural creation process that would apply to the theme for the mural?

In some ways, the mural experience was different that we expected: it was a lot harder. We underestimated the surface as far as the size of the painting. A 4”x5″ canvas can hold a lot of rolling hills!

And the bulldog on the path is like the process of the painting in some way. There maybe be an obstacle, but you have to persevere if you want to get to the happy place. You can’t just give up the first time it gets hard or tedious or whatever. You have to be determined, and to create a good mural you have to stick with it and get through the obstacles and the boring parts so you can get to the fun parts and the things that make the mural really good. And we are proud of what we created, and grateful for the help from Mario and Fran and Rita.

So your mural seems to say that being a good person is a choice. Why would anyone choose not to be on the path to light?

We think the mural says that being a good person is a choice. At least that is one way to take it, but it will be different for everyone. What if the world you lived in was so strict that you thought you were bad by those standards, but you were really good by other standards? People need perspective about what good really is.

Why don’t people just take the path to light? Because it takes work!!! Because they don’t realize it is the path to the light and just assume it is a path to deeper darkness. They see the obstacles and don’t know the other side. If they have never seen the light, how do they know what darkness is? If you don’t feel joy, then you don’t know sadness for what it is.

How do people get stuck in the dark and scary part of the mural?

We think people get stuck sometimes because of their own fear or their laziness. They get bored, or anxious, or they ignore their compass. Maybe they get confused about the compass and which arrow points in the right direction. But to move to a better place, they have to find their compass and look at it and let it guide them. This takes determination. The shadow wolf chasing the white rabbit is desperation chasing hope. Desperation tries to catch and swallow hope, but it is not too late for people to choose the path.

Congratulations to our young artists Anna and Juliana for their thoughtfulness and determination. Job well done! I would be remised not to thank their mothers for their engagement with the process and their overall support. Lastly, I want to acknowledge Science and Arts Academy for creating an environment that nurtures creativity and self-expression. Our team at Painting in Partnership is grateful for having been part and witness to this creation. This project was an opportunity to express the true meaning our company’s name.

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Two children from Science & Arts Academy of Des Plaines have been working on creating a unique mural on the theme for their current academic year: Virtues. The team at Painting in Partnership has conceived of this project and is helping facilitate its creative process.

In a first session, the girls were introduced to the history of murals, going back to the cavemen. Then, our Color and Concept Consultant, along with our Muralist, helped facilitate and capture the girl’s vision for living life in the pursuit of virtue development, by putting it in the form of a rough sketch for their mural-to-be. Our muralist then refined the sketch and submitted it for approval by the girls. After incorporating their changes, we then submitted a final sketch for them to color in advance of the first painting session, which will take place later this week. As you can see from the sketch, the girls are well on their way to creating their mural!

Colored Sketch for Mural Painting Project on Virtues

I thought you might be interested in reading about the girls’ thoughts and the meaning behind the different images depicted in their sketch. Here we go:
– In the mural, the path leads from an area of bad traits to an area of good traits, but the traveler will face obstacles along the way.

– The shadow wolf is evil, made of black shadows and deceit chasing the rabbit, trying to catch the white, pure hope and devour it so the world becomes more evil.

– The deer and squirrels are running away from the shadows toward the light.

– The bulldog stands in the middle of the path, saying that you must
want to do this and work to get past me.

– And the gate is mental determination. The gate will only open once you have fully embraced the need for change. Going through the gate is accepting change and moving forward.

– The gate is part of the way down the path because you can make some improvements without admitting that you are in a dark place. But to get all the way there, you need to admit that you need to change.

– The moral compass says you must get past the gate. The compass is your conscience, the drive to get better. It is your guide on the way.

– The sun is not high in the sky, but low on the horizon. It is close to you at sunset. Finally, you have made it here where there is beauty, happiness and color. The sunset is like a sideways rainbow.

– For us, bright color represents happiness. It is hard to be happy in a world of black and white and gray. The colors’ vibrancy is beauty and joy.

– The season of the mural is mostly spring, but it moves from winter to summer as you progress along the path.

The young ladies on this project are not only artists, but are indeed deep thinkers. Cannot wait to get to the painting part!

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Anything Goes- Scene 1

Anything Goes - Scene 2

In the past week, as volunteers, we had the pleasure and privilege of doing the painting and decorating for the sets of “Anything Goes”, a community play performed by the Fremont Street Theater Company . The play premiered on Friday August 10 and will be performed through August 19.

The set painting had to take place during a very narrow time frame in the past week. On Sunday, we met with the producers to discuss the scenes and their vision for the look and feel of the sets. From that color and concept consultation, right on the spot, we developed a color scheme and decorative elements that would meet the stated needs.

On Monday, I talked to our local Sherwin Williams store to request a large discount on the paints needed for this community painting project. They gladly accepted to support the project. Later that afternoon, I dropped off the paints at Cutting Hall in Palatine. All the painting and decorating took place during the afternoons of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The dress rehearsal was on Thursday evening. In spite of the very tight time frame, everything came together very nicely.

For Sandy Sandquist and his wife Colleen, the founders of the Fremont Street Theater Company, it was the first production of their new theater company. The play is a homerun in every way. As painting contractors and members of the community, we are thrilled to have played a small part if the play’s success.

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Custom Play House - House Painting for a Good Cause

Last week, we were invited to be the color consultants and house-painting contractors for the decorating of an upscale custom play house, to be auctioned for the benefit of the Ronald McDonald House Charities in the Chicago area. The auction was held last night at the Hyatt Lodge in Oak Brook, Illinois. The soiree event was entitled “Clubbin’ for a Cause”. The play house was the last item to be offered at the live auction. It yielded a whopping $14,000 for Ronald!

Donatelli Builders, a prime Chicago builder, assembled the team for this unique auction offering, from the architect, painting contractor, interior designer and landscaper. Chris Donatelli will act as the general contractor and builder on the project. Painting in Partnership will handle the color consulting and house painting. We are thrilled to be part of this project.

“Clubbin’ for a Cause” was organized by the Hinsdale Junior Women’s Club and was attended by over five hundred people. The evening was impeccably organized and managed. The silent auction was conducted using smart phone apps and monitored on IPads. Way to go WJWC!

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