The First Day of Mural Class

Hi Folkies, It's was a great start to the 2018 mural season, at 10am (the start of class) 19 of the 20 students were present and on time! Amazing! Intros were done, the syllabus reviewed. This year's four themes were explained: 1) George Mikan, 2) 64 E. Lake Bldg. 3) 50th anniv. of the Black Student Union, and 4) our Blue Demon Football Memorial. Then we went out to measure the particular pillars for particular pieces of polytab. Polytab is like a thicker fabric softener/dryer sheet, a non-woven material. Porous, but effective It was good to let the students see where exactly we were putting their work up. And the conditions of the other pillars. We took a few pictures for you to see how we went about doing this. Students were amazed at how each pillar was a little bit different from the others. And students got to see the start of many tools to be used. Today, a carpenter's snap line. Soon, a pounce wheel. Art 291 (mural class) is a class that runs from 10 am till 4pm. It's that long because it's a studio class, and we meet only once a week. Can I possibly teach a student everything I know in mural painting in 10 weeks...no. But I can give a student a decent idea of what this stuff is about. And that's gonna have to do. Students then had a little time for lunch and then we got into the actual work of fabricating these new mural pieces. Measuring, cutting, gridding, labeling, designing icons, and archives researching were all part of the chores for the afternoon. The enthusiasm was contagious, it made me feel great to see these students take to this work, like ducks to water. Next class day, will be a lesson in assembly line gessoing of all the material. Stay tuned! Bro. Mark,cm

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