IMAGINE
THE POSSIBILITIES
Life’s possibilities are endless.
Location: Pocomoke, MD
Art Design: Brandon Bell + Deserea Martin
Muralists: Brandon Bell + Deserea Martin + Kanye Reid + Skye Westbrooke + Janet Cho
Tasks: Creative Direction + Instruction + School Collaboration
Another first for us.
This one involving local students!
This project was made possible thanks to Pocomoke High School and their Artist-in-Residence project ran through their Summer Academy as well as property owner Chip Choquette who granted us use of his location to allow our design to live a life to it’s fullest!
Reach one, teach one.
Earlier this year we received an email from a principal of a local high school in the area.
Not just any high school, but the high school that Brandon our CEO/Co-founder went to and graduated from!
We were asked if we would be interested in participating in their new Artist-In-Residence program which was a part of their new Summer Academy.
This meant we would have the chance to instruct students in the mural creation process, from start to finish.
What do you think we said right off the bat?
YES! Of course!
A look at the wall before.
Not the prettiest picture you have laid your eyes on we bet!
Luckily, this idea was also coordinated with a local property owner and resident firefighter, Chip Choquette, who has actively been seeking and promoting public art in the town of Pocomoke for years. Someone whom we have been in direct contact with and who presented this opportunity to us informally prior to the school reaching out themselves.
The goal was simple:
Work with local high school students to install a semi-permanent piece of public art in the area.
The objective:
To inspire imagination.
What made the opportunity even more amazing once we got started was that we really didn’t know how it would ultimately go.
While we have worked with children in the past, we have never instructed them from start to finish on a design.
To our luck, an art teacher was also tasked with being present during the installation and to our surprise she was more than willing to shake some cans to get it done!
For our design we wanted to inspire viewers (especially the students) to imagine life’s infinite possibilities.
We chose to go back to our root style (Think: Believe and Dream) and create something memorable for the area for years to come. Just like we have done in Salisbury, MD.
Neither the students nor the teacher had ever used spray paint as a medium, but with us being newly acquainted ourselves and taking to it with such grace and excitement, we knew they would quickly fall in love just as we did.
And sure enough, we were right!
It took us roughly three days of instruction with an additional day being used to fine tune and seal the job before we could call it complete.
The summer heat, the long hours, and the commitment to get it done before the children had to finish up with their summer academy meant the pressure was on!
Sure enough, we tackled it with enthusiasm and pride and it turned out to be a project we will never forget!
Oh, and we forgot to mention.
This was Pocomoke’s VERY FIRST PUBLIC ART MURAL!
