Forest of DREAMS
Mural
We painted the town!
WHY: DREAMS of Wilmington--whose building sits at the intersection of 10th and Fanning Street--was desperately in need of some beautification. DREAMS is dedicated to inspiring and empowering children through the arts, but the large gray, ugly wall on the building’s east side said otherwise. The entire community helped us to create a “Forest of DREAMS”. Through painting exotic flora and creatures, we transformed and beautified a somewhat forgotten part of Wilmington that needed the community’s love. We created unique community interactions all through the process of promoting an awesome grassroots arts program!
WHEN: Each Saturday morning throughout March and April 2016, Dr. Janna Robertson from UNCW lead painting crews from 9am until noon. Other times and dates were added too. All were welcomed! We ended up with over 600 volunteers from all over town. Ages ranged from 0-94, and included school children, college students, teachers, artists, neighbors, city officials, police, community non-profits, churches, businesses, and random people who heard about the mural and wanted to help!
COST: Dr. Janna Robertson recruited 75 sponsors for each of the creatures in the DREAMS forest for $50 each (these gifts were tax deductible). All funds raised paid for paint and paint supplies. A few groups gave in-kind donations. After each creature was approved we drew it on the wall and groups/volunteers signed up to come paint it. Any additional donations went towards supporting DREAMS’s youth development and arts education programming.
WHO: Community volunteers of all ability levels helped with this mural project. Families, students, business people, police officers...you name it, they were involved!
For more information please email Janna at robertsonj@uncw.edu