'The Flower of Life' mural for Concrete Dreamers at The Spot 4MKE
 |
| 'The Flower of Life' mural on asphalt at The Spot 4MKE, 5th and Wisconsin Ave |
On October 29th. 2015 I completed this approx. 5,000 sq ft ground mural in collaboration with Concrete Dreamers at The Spot 4MKE in downtown Milwaukee, WI on N. 5th St and W. Wisconsin Ave. An article written by the funders of The Spot 4 MKE - Project for Public Places - was published worldwide and highlights the artwork here. The project stemmed from a temporary placemaking lease of a parking lot initiated by Creative Alliance Milwaukee (CAM) with the City. *Note: As of April 30th, 2016, the lease will not be renewed to CAM and the parking lot mural and site will be returned to its original condition and city ownership per the lease agreement.
'The Flower of Life' was a collaborative effort between myself and Concrete Dreamers - Mikal Floyd-Pruitt and Fonde Bridges - for The Spot 4 MKE. This short video highlights their vision for engaging the public in this space by creating programming which included the mural, hula-hoops, karaoke with back-up dancers, giant-sized lego blocks and bean bags; skateboard demos and dancing, and free chair massages.
As part of the vision, the purpose of the mural was to invite spontaneous public participation in a creative way.
As part of the vision, the purpose of the mural was to invite spontaneous public participation in a creative way.
 |
| Former young students, new young friends, and passersby came to help for an hour or two! |
It was inspired by the sacred geometry pattern carrying the same name. Planning and design started the last week in November. The mural painting took place over five weeks beginning October 1st and ending October 29th. I learned about a conrete stain necessary for painting on asphalt and used Sherwin-Williams as my source, where they tinted it according to the colors I wanted.
 |
| Trying my hand at seriously spray-painting for the first time! |
Painting programming usually happened weekdays from 11am-2pm; and weekends noon-4pm to take advantage of the warm fall October sunlight. During that time I invited everyone to help paint - youth I'd worked with on prior projects, my neighbors, friends - and most importantly, anyone who happened to be walking by.
 |
| My neighbor and watercolor artist Alan lending a hand |
Gary was the engineer from the Hilton hotel across the street. He came by on breaks several times to enthusiastically check on our progress over the weeks.
There are 3D elements to the space including decorative planters and windmills, designed by Vedale Hill and painted with the help of youth he works with. There is another mural at The Spot 4MKE created by True Skool high school interns over the summer, at the east end of the space. The colors all blend together well and it was important to me to include their design as a complement to the rest of the mural so that it all goes together.
 |
| Snapshot of six weeks |
Our unveiling celebration happend Thursday October 29th to the tune of roasted marshmallows, karoake, magna-tag and singing. This has been quite a culminating project for me to end a year filled working with increasing scale and ever-rising dreams.
 |
| Aerial shot taken by Adam Carr |