GO YE INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PAINT THE MURALS!!?

Take a group of Virginia teenagers, a Chicago urban minister, an innercity elementary school principal and an educator/musician/artist, mix them together with paint supplies, and what you have is a unique project to serve multiple communities in a most meaningful way.

The project was initiated when John Shirk of Chicago’s Urban Encounter contacted the leadership of Pritzker Elementary School in Wicker Park. Shirk wanted to design a project to assign to some Virginia teenagers visiting Chicago to learn methods churches could use to love and serve people in urban communities. He thought there might be something they could do to help the school as a service. Dr. Albert-Reese, principal, pointed out the need to repaint and redecorate the hallways of Pritzker but that they were under a limited budget.

Shirk now had a plan, a place, money for supplies and the labor needed, but he still needed artists. The teens were going to do more than apply coats of paint to the school walls - they would decorate the walls with murals, representing school themes. The 3 school levels would display 3 new themes- Discovery, Courage & Heroes, and Legacy, complimented by images throughout the building.  Murals would also be placed on a wall adjacent to the auditorium (highlighting the arts) and a wall adjacent to the gymnasium (highlighting athletics).

Shirk contacted Chicago’s Ben Butter (born Shasa Ward), a multi-talented artist and friend, who agreed to come aboard. However, due to an overflowing schedule, Ben Butter offered to assemble a team of local artists, who would be under his supervision, to direct the mural project on-site. Artists currently committed to the project include: Joel Maxime, Jr.; CZR PRZ; William Colón; and Aquil Charlton.

The teens, representing Spotswood Baptist Church of Fredericksburg, VA, joined by school volunteers (Sylvia Ramos, Terrie Donaldson, Kathy McNamara and John Hayford) have been painting the walls in preparation for the murals. Beginning the week of July 6^th, painting was underway, as the first mural started on Tuesday July 8^th. The project is scheduled to finalize August 17^th.

Tags: community service, murals, ben butter, shirk, urban encounter, elementary school, urban, artists, service, partnership