GRAFFITI MURAL PROJECT
Huntsville Adult Education & Training Centre
April 11 - 15, 2011
Project Coordinator: Jen Morgan Anderson
Teacher: Andrea Butler
Artists: Dawiyd "Monk.e" Yisrael, Carlo Raponi
For this project, Kaleidoscope engaged Montreal graffiti artist and hip hop musician Dawiyd "Monk.e" Yisrael to lead Grade 11 English students in the development and creation of a large mural. Peterborough muralist Carlo Raponi joined us for the first three days of the project to support Dawiyd and to gain some professional development.
Students were involved in brainstorming and planning the mural, as well as painting it and deciding on its final placement. Each student was also asked to do an additional assignment during the week that related to the project. They wrote press releases, kept journals, created blogs, took videos and photos, created PowerPoint presentations, did drawings, and wrote poetry and lyrics.
The school was full of excitement and energy throughout the week of the project. Dawiyd inspired the students with his freestyle rhymes and virtuosic spray painting ability. It wasn't unusual for an impromtu jam session to break out in the classroom. Students and staff from other classes in the school came to check out the mural's progress, as did parents, students from the Haliburton AETC, and members of the local press.
The following video shows the process of creating the mural over the week:
This video aired on our local COGECO station:
Some images from the week:
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Completed mural:
Student Work:
drawing by Jon Howarth
Press Release by Amanda Martin:
ArtsSmarts for Muskoka Students
By: Amanda Martin, HuAETC Student
For the week of April 11 to 15, Montreal graffiti artist Dawiyd "Monk-e" Yisrael, and Peterborough muralist Carlo Raponi join students and English teacher Andrea Butler of the Huntsville Adult Education & Training Centre for an arts-integrated workshop. It is a fantastic opportunity for the students and the community, and they greatly appreciate the funding provided by the Trillium Lakelands District School Board, the Muskoka Lakes Music Festival, ArtsSmarts, and the Rotary Club of Bracebridge-Muskoka Lakes.
On the first day, Dawiyd introduced himself with an inspiring hip-hop free-style song, combining English, French and even Spanish. Next he shared his videos and photos of his work and spoke about his artistic process and the challenges he faced to get where he is today. The class came together to brainstorm ideas for developing the concept of a mural first, discussing the prominent problems of our society, and how art can bring more beauty and awareness into our lives.
The four pieces of the mural line the corridor outside the classroom where students are taking brush to canvas and helping Dawiyd fill in the lines. Cameras are documenting the day, as everyone begins to come out of their artistic shells, snapping shots and videos of the unfolding events. Halfway through the day, even songs erupted from the classroom, led by
Jen Morgan Anderson, the Arts and Aboriginal Education Coordinator for Kaleidoscope, on the guitar. The day was finished off with Dawiyd free-styling to random beats on the keyboard.
The mural concept that the artists and class designed illustrates the negative issues facing our area, but focuses on positively illuminating what makes Muskoka beautiful and unique. It also demonstrates the creativity and maturity of the Huntsville HuAETC students.
Kaleidoscope Arts in Education Programs are an initiative of the Muskoka Lakes Music Festival. Kaleidoscope links professional artists with students and teachers in Muskoka to help deliver arts-integrated workshops. Kaleidoscope is the official ArtsSmarts partner for the Muskoka region. For more information, please visit: www.artsinmuskoka.com.
A blog about the project by Sam Bobyk: http://huaetc-graffiti.blogspot.com
News article that appeared in the Huntsville Forrester:
Funding for this project was provided by:
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Program Enhancement Fund |
Muskoka Lakes |
Rotary Club of Bracebridge - |
Cultural Strategic |