My project is meant to take around my local high school in Sun Valley, California. My high school is in the middle of an industrial area and is surrounded by many apartment complexes and small homes. The majority of the population is low-income Latinx folk who know each other and have lived there for many years. The high school is pretty small, it is about the size of one block and stand alone. The community around here uses the school as a recreational area and goes for walks around it and sometimes even goes inside to use the basketball courts and all.
I aim to create art on the sidewalks of the school that promote love and confidence for the community and culture. The art would consists of “dichos” or sayings that help uplift folks while they are taking a stroll or on their way to school. The dichos would be spray painted onto the sidewalk in vibrant colors.
I think making this project become a reality would be really powerful because I come from the community and if I would have seen that it might have changed my perspective or attitude for that day at school. The work would also help in getting folks to think about a time in their lives where the dicho could be applied. One saying to get spray painted could be “En la lucha hay belleza” which also would be great in instilling confidence in the teenagers and community members
This work is important because it can affect the way kids grow up and view themselves and the community. This can help in bringing up conversations if folks walk in groups, with their kids or friends. The community needs art that helps represent them and art they can relate to and understand because there is none in the area. Communities nearby have many murals and other forms of art but I have never come across something in Sun Valley. The closest thing we have is a picture collage in a Carl’s Jr.
This project is meant to be up (down, hehe cause it’s on the floor) until it disintegrates or gets removed. I am not exactly sure how long spray paint last but I would say at least six months.
This project is meant to be to unite the community and help individuals reflect on their community and themselves. It is meant to be something I wish I had when I was on my way to school or when I go walk around it. The inspiration for it comes from my first year at Berkeley, I was on my way to class and came across an affirmation on the floor and it really helped in changing my mindset and helping me transition to a new part of my life away from home and my community.
This project is to be installed on the sidewalk around the school. I wouldn’t want the pieces to be too close to each other. There would be five different stencils, one design will go on each corner and every other design will be in between those.
The project connects in that it is created for the Latinx Community surrounding the site. The high school there was created as a dump school and it was known. The school has had a bad rep for many years, but it has potential and the community needs to begin to take pride in it. The students who first began there after it was turned from a middle school to a high school were the “unwanted” from schools around and now is mostly for the kids who do not have another choice of what school they will go to. Many of the students live in the surrounding area and either walk or take the bus to school because their parents cannot afford to drive them to the “better” school on the other side of the city. I would hope that the work would help in allowing kids to have more pride and not be ashamed as well because the school often gets called ghetto. But the words to be placed represent the community around and in the school, which from my experiences is a tight knit community.
I would hope it would enrich people’s lives by encouraging them to take more walks and engage in new conversations. Also, by possibly influencing student’s perspectives as they go to school.
