Great Meeting at AHS with Wesley Harris

Tuesday Wesley Harris, the lead artist for the Mural Project, met with students at Albemarle High School.

The students and their art teacher, Mrs. Fike, arranged multiple sketches drawn by the students at East Albemarle and brainstormed ideas to collage the submissions.

Ling Guo had an excellent idea for a student with an unzipped backpack at the far end of the wall, with papers fluttering out behind. On those papers would be the actual sketches, messages, ideas, and concepts that have been talked about by the students and the parents.

Tentatively, the sketch may be finished Friday, and can be shown to those who need to approve. Once that is done, Wesley can outline the sketch on the wall - hopefully this weekend!

Stay tuned for sketch and schedule information - as soon as approval is secured things will really start happening.

The Honors Art Club at AHS will also prepare the areas around the wall on Friday by mowing, cleaning, and getting it safe for people to work!

Thanks again to SNAP for sending Marina Richardson to cover our meeting.

In High Gear Now!

Thanks Marina Richardson, for a wonderful writeup on this project in SNAP on 9/22!

To see the article online, click here :http://thesnaponline.com/local/x180463227/Eyes-voices-of-first-graders-lead-to-East-art-project

Last evening, Brent King (King's Mobile Wash) of Troy came out and pressure washed the wall... now the graffiti is virtually gone!

And tomorrow morning, Sherrill Smith, owner of S&D Painting, and his crew will be out bright and early to prime the mural space. Thank you Jason of Sherwin Williams for the primer supply!

Kids at East are busy committing their ideas to pictures and words for the lead artists to turn into life-size images in the new few weeks.

Thanks to everyone for making this tiny thought in the mind of a child become something truly exciting.

In High Gear Now!

Sketch Session 9/20, 4-6pm

We are in need of volunteers to sketch for the mural. We have a number of ideas that are fantastic, and need your help to bring them to life! We will supply refreshments and supplies; bring your friends that like to draw and let's get going!

Marisa from SNAP (Stanly News and Press) will also stop in - they are planning to do a story on the mural project.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Pressure Washing Next Wednesday

The wall will be pressure washed this coming Wednesday evening thanks to the donated services of Brent King Pressure Washing out of Troy. Heads up - the street will be block for a brief time that evening until the washing is complete.

Thanks so much Brent!!

Sherwin WIlliams of Albemarle Supports Mural Project

We met Jason & Charles at Sherwin Williams Paint Store to tell them about the Mural Project. We're so glad to have their support, and to learn about an anti-graffiti product that can be applied to the mural upon completion - it allows the mural to be pressure washed, taking off any unwanted graffiti, while preserving the mural! They'll be helping us with some paint donations too.

Thanks Jason and Charles, and for the leads you provided us today --

Local Artists Support Mural

Our locally renowned "public artists" Johnathan ("Meatball") Brooks, and Wesley Harris plan to attend the mural meeting this coming Tuesday. You may have seen their work around the community - the "Fat Albert" Wall, on Lincoln Street, or the Jimer Stokes memorial painting on Lincoln Street.

We're really excited to have their interest and involvement!

Oh SNAP!

Stanly News & Press was contacted on Friday, September 10th to invite them to our Mural Meeting. I spoke with Tiffany Thompson, who has done some articles on East Albemarle in the past. She will feed this information to the reporter currently covering this beat. We are excited to let the city know of the great things coming out of East Albemarle and its community!

The Word Is Out

On Wednesday we delivered Mural Meeting postcards to all homes in Amhurst Gardens, and the houses on S. Bell and the surrounding block of Amhurst. The Word Is Out!

Learned of another "street painting" on Lincoln and went to see the Jimer Stokes tribute painting. What a fantastic work.

On Monday we will visit local paint stores to see about donations of supplies. Stay tuned.!!

Mural Project Updates

We've been by all of S. Bell now, and gotten WONDERFUL ideas! The top of Inger street we visited this past Wednesday, and the excitement is growing. We've gotten names of local artists (disguised as "regular" working people!) and visited a nearby mural (The "Fat Albert" Wall on Lincoln Street). Next week we'll visit on Grigg and Amhurst Streets.

The first official Mural Meeting will be on Tuesday, September 14th, at 6pm in the Media Center of East Albemarle Elementary School. We hope you will come hear about the ideas, (and give some too) -- and get templates for drawing!

The wall prep has been secured, too. It will be pressure washed in late September.

Next week we'll also seek out suppliers for paints and brushes.