Mosaic Building

Week Six

Final Days

The Building

Wraps Up with Ease.

 

Mosaic Workshop 9

This week was a wonderful end to the building of mosaic. The teaching of the mosaic process, from hands on participation and active discussions to the admiration from passers by was one of the purposes of the project.

Community directors, teachers, business owners, artists, parents, children, elders, students, and neighbors all coming together for a community for unity project. Market Square was a wonderful location to begin the journey to mosaic this fair city.

 

Families from many different backgrounds often took time to stop and work together on the project. Creating public art that would be displayed in Market Square was an exciting reason to be involved with this Community Unity project.

With this father and daughter team, we had a long conversation about language, art and the changing times. We laughed and shared about our own experiences trying to learn new languages. We were then given a quick lesson in how to write and count in Chinese. It was a fun interaction between strangers.

Our volunteer videographer, Ron from Rock Solid, takes a break to grab some healthy lunch.

 

We talked about how times have changed and we are a throwaway society. She told us about her youth and her great-grandmother, (could you imagine her great-grandmother?) How they re-used things until they were no longer useful. If she is 80 yearrs old her story dates back to 1920's. Nice to see that this project uses some of the values our ancestors had. This was a wonderful interaction.

An elderly women from the US, here to celebrate her 80th birthday spent some time with us discussing the importance of projects like this: projects that encourage all ages participation, re-using old materials, and open communication.

One of our volunteers, Lori, said that finding this project has helped her re-connect with her creative side. She started unpacking her art supplies and has her creative juices flowing again. She was an enthusiastic volunteer with lots of energy towards the Mosaic the City idea. She took her new excitement home and gained the support of her friends and family in her new community involvement.

 

Over the next three workshops we worked slow to make sure the final pieces of ceramics and tile fit just right.

Mosaic Workshop 10

 

Throughout the workshops the facilitators constantly explained the products and techniques used to create this project.

At the beginning of the last week we had had almost 300 participants from almost 10 nations.

 

By the end of the week that number was over 300 and 15 nations. Awesome by any standards for a community art project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the idea that each artist and volunteer facilitator will mosaic one section over the first year of Mosaic the City projects. Then when the first Mosaic the City map is completed we will have a completed Mosaic the City Mosaic Panel. Great idea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This board was donated by a local couple along with a few boxes of tile, so we used what we had to start our signature piece. First we needed to remove the tile sample and seal the wood, before the design could be added.

 

 

 

Gordy Tupper and Nancy Sinclair from GO! came and did a bit on the project, focusing on the Recycled Art Workshop and Competition happening at the end of August.

 

 

They were a blast to have at the project.
They took their time to find just the right materials to build with and then Shylene left them to be creative.

 

When Shylene returned she found Nancy all duct taped together! Very Funny.

 

Nancy the ended the segment by adding a few of the final pieces to the Flower Garden Mosaic.
The program aired Wednesday 27th 2003.

There was some trepidation to the process of grouting these recycled mosaics. We used so many different materials, like glass knick-knacks, old china, and a hand made martini glass to beach glass and driftwood, from wooden frames to plastic train tracks that the grouting couldn't be simple or quick. There is a huge amount of cleaning to be needed to shine up these once the grout is added. Fortunately through communications with the mosaic community Shylene learned a new technique for grouting 3-d works. Thanks to wwww.ozymosaics.com and Sandy Robertson of http://www.ozmosaics.com/ for this great tip. We now aren't so scared to get started grouting.

 

The grouting will be done with the Mosaic the City team of Volunteers. Wish them luck and come to the unveiling celebration September 20th, 2003 2pm till 4pm.

Live Music from Special Blend