Why the emphasis on Murals?
Murals have been around for as long as we can remember and serve as a valuable record of life from the prehistoric times to now. Throughout the years, murals have covered the interiors and exteriors of many public buildings such as churches, libraries, museums, palaces, temples, tombs, temples, and more. As time progressed, murals spread onto the streets and neighborhood walls, but their purpose remains the same—to paint a picture of society, created from stories, values, dreams, and change. It is also a way in which a group of people with a common goal can leave signs and messages about their existence in a time and place. Moreover, they are considered an important form of socially engaging art that plays a significant role in the relationship between art and community.
In this unit, I would like students to realize that murals mean more than just an aesthetically pleasing wall. Murals are a powerful form of communication that can instill a sense of community pride, especially for a school. Often times, the pride comes from the process of creating a mural, but it can also be tied to the mural’s subject. This unit will offer the students a chance to celebrate their local history and culture while working collaboratively. By integrating murals with poetry, I hope the students will realize that they too have the ability to profoundly communicate a common message through both text and art. This will first be accomplished by taking a stroll down their Back of the Yards neighborhood as well as the Pilsen neighborhood to observe and discuss its murals. I have selected these two areas in particular because they are enriched with so much culture and feeling that the student can connect to. Most of the students see these murals on a daily basis but have not truly uncovered their meaning or their connection to their personal lives. Therefore, students will be asked to select a mural that highly interests them in order to play the role of a hired poet who creatively communicates their interpretation of the art through a poem. They will then transition their role from poet to muralist once they have shared their poems about their community. Needless to day, before we can put this into motion, an introduction to murals within the classroom environment is necessary.
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