Elementary School Mural Drawing: A Photo Recap

What does a musician, a graphic designer, a fine artist, a mechanical engineer, and a network engineer have in common?

We all volunteered with Jersey Cares to create murals at the 18th Avenue School in Newark, NJ. Our task was to draw images that the children could relate to. We used simple cartoons to convey simple messages, like music is awesome, the earth is a happy place, water is important, and dragons really enjoy reading. 

It ended up being a fun filled Saturday afternoon for us all; we played music, ran around the empty hallways, heard Jay drop the ruler every five minutes, bumped into the projectors way too many times, and more than once I got lost trying to find the exit. (I accidentally stumbled into the gymnasium and wished I could go back to the good old days of dodgeball and crab soccer.)

During the week a couple volunteers will go back and put the finishing touches on a few of the murals. Next weekend another group is going to paint our drawings. Check out our work - just don't get angry at us for using projectors!

Tom drawing a happy earth for the ecology club.

Heather and Amy discussing the awesomeness of her music mural sketches.

At some point the rainforest was changed to a field of flowers.

Popular cartoon characters and an overly excited drummer.

The music mural.

Amy sketching her own version of the Literacy Dragon.

The Literacy Dragon comes to life! 

Jay measuring out the flags for the Hispanic Mural.

The Hispanic Mural, with flags and dancing figures.

Is she dancing or offended?

The Water Cycle!

The hip-happenin' Music Mural #2.

Me being a camera creeper.

I wish I could be there Monday morning when the kids (1st to 8th grades) come scurrying down the hallways and see what's new.