Time Required: 60 minutes

Materials

• Large sheets of butcher paper or cardboard (one per group)
• Drop cloth
• Tempera paints and brushes
• Buckets for water
• Books about a variety of artists and their lives (See book lists below.)
• Paper and pencils

Set up

• Arrange books on a table for teens to look through prior to painting.
• Place paper and pencils on the table with the books.
• Tape butcher paper or cardboard along the wall.
• Lay the drop cloth under the painting area.
• Set out tempera paints and brushes in areas accessible to the artists.
• Set out buckets of water.

Directions

• Ask teens to describe a mural either by a famous artist or by a layperson in the community, and to consider what message, if any, the artist is conveying.
• Encourage teens to discuss the kinds of murals they would like to see in their community.
• Divide teens into groups of 4 and allow them time to sift through the childrens books to identify an artist that they want to study. (Childrens books work best because several can be read in a short period of time.)
• Guide groups by asking them to read several books and share what intrigued them about a particular artist.
• Then ask groups to study the art and identify a message that can be portrayed in a mural.
• After they decide on an artist and their message, they can use the paper and pencils to sketch what scene or representations of their chosen artist they would like to incorporate into their composition.
• When they have agreed upon a sketch they can transfer the image onto the butcher paper or cardboard and create a mural.
• After the murals are finished, ask the group to share why they decided to imitate their artist the way they did in the mural.

Volunteer Involvement

Assign volunteers to:

• Help groups decide what elements to add to their composition.
• Post questions such as:  What interested you most about this artist? What about the style of the work makes him or her notable as an artist? What do you think was a transitional moment in this artists life? How do you think the artist himself would paint this scene? The answers will spark interesting and dramatic murals.

Family Involvement

Encourage families to:

• Collaborate on decisions on decorating of family spaces as well as childrens rooms. As children get older, their opinions about art and decorating become more refined.
• Supply prints of art that teens have expressed an interest in.

Community Connection

• Use your mural ideas to inspire a community mural. Have teens look for a space in need of a little pizzazz and discuss what art could enhance that space.
• Have teens decide what message their mural should have and create a composition that supports their message.
• Prepare a couple of the teens to present their idea to the school, city council, or Chamber of Commerce. Murals can go a long way toward beautifying a forgotten space and the teens may be able to add their mark to a forgotten corner.

Adaptations

• If time and resources are lacking for such an involved project, teens can still do the task individually.