We Found Joy in Art-Making

In November 2021, the staff at the Richmond Art Center asked me to develop the design for an indoor mural. The mural had been commissioned by Blue Shield California, and the theme was going to be “health through art-making.” This project had to be completed by the end of the year.

After discussions with various stakeholders, it was decided it should show students of all ages working with looms, screen printing, ceramics and metals at the Richmond Art Center. The mural would also feature people in the background looking at art. I added an art tour for kids, too. This mural was installed on the wall closest to the 25th Street entrance on January 12 2022, and was going to be unveiled together with a show of some of my more recent work. Unfortunately, the Omicron variant got in the way and the Center wisely decided not to hold gatherings of any kind. So now, if you want to see the mural you should try to go during the days and times the Center is open to the public.

The mural measures 36.5 wide by 7.5 feet tall

John Wehrle was instrumental in helping me prep the panels of polytab on which the mural was to be painted. He showed me how to prime them and attache them to the wall. I transferred my design to the panels using a projector and began painting after the digital sketch above was revised and approved by a group of Richmond Art Center staff and students. During the thanksgiving holidays I painted a mini-version of the mural to scale, and figured out the palette. Below is a part of the small version.

With this small version, I worked out the palette that would best translate the digital sketch to actual pigments.

Soon after I began painting, I met Denise Campos and Leslie Poblano, two local youths who had taken a mural class in the summer with muralist Fred Alvarado. Over several Saturdays, they assisted me with painting the broad areas. I was lucky to work with such focused and professional assistants!

Here they are painting the loom, a complex structure that required several sessions.

The mural took about five weeks to be completed. I worked from references supplies by the Center but made significant changes to the overwhelming majority of them. There were very few changes to the original design, among them, the addition of Kato Jaworsky and Ed Lay, beloved figures associated with the Center who have passed away. This increased the number of figures to a total of 32. I also added art representative of some major exhibits at the Center, for example, Jos Sances’s whale.

I worked alone an average of six hours a day for six days a week. It was mostly rainy during the month of December but the Center had excellent heat. I am grateful to the operations staff at the Art Center for taking care of logistics, and to the Exhibitions program staff, Roberto Martinez and Amy Spencer for their support of this project.

When you come visit the mural, don’t forget to ask for a flyer that has a line art drawing of the mural along with an explanation of what they represent.

A detail of the mural, representing the ceramics program.