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Well let’s see… Brushes, check. Containers? check. All colors accounted for? Yup! Okay….I got my black….wait a minute! Where’s my white??!?!??!? The good people at Nova color did their job perfectly. It looks like UPS messed up the delivery. After talking to Nova color; they said that they would ship my 5 gallon of white next day air and which ever shipment came first we would accept. The other would be denied and returned to sender. I love their paint and there service is second to none! Thanks you guys!

But that still leaves me with a bunch of students that are hungry to paint. I had to think about what I was going to do. The color white is very crucial and not having it meant we were very, very, very limited in what we could do today. I had to tell my students the deal and get them on my level of concern.

All hope wasn’t lost. It actually worked out for the best because I had my students outline the initial sketch and get them to tighten up or ask questions about unclear lines. Another thing that was cool; was that some of my students hadn’t touched a paint brush before and this was going to be their introduction to painting 101. With that in mind I briefed them on what kind consistency they should make their paints. I taught them how to load their brush with paint…yadda yadda yadda. I knew everyone was getting excited so I let them go to the wall with their brushes.

I must express again that NOT having the color white for our first day was probably the best thing that could happen for to us. Let me explain: They knew and developed the sketch. They were able to trace it the night before and today they had to re-outline it. I believe this gave them greater familiarity with the mural’s design. Every so often I would walk back and view the wall. It was really cool to see scaffolding and all my students working simultaneously. They were under my guidance, but honestly; they were doing it on their own.

Community Art- Eugene Or by Steven Lopez | 19 October, 2008
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What do you do when you see something like this? Do you run in the other direction? I wouldn’t recommend that. We have a job to do. my art army showed up with a lot of excitement. This was the day that they were waiting for. But hold on…it’s not like you can just go up to the wall and paint. Prior to even painting we went over the final draft. We visualized our plan of attack. I reminded them that we must start from the furthest background and move to the foreground. The next thing we needed to do was lay out our grid. We were working with 3″ squares in paper and now they were going to have grid the wall in 3 foot intervals. 3 inches to 3 feet is a wicked challenge. It was even more of a challenge to get the snap line tools to work properly. The first problem we ran into was the color of the chalk, which was peach. Now how are we supposed to make distinguishable straight lines when the chalk lines blend in with the wall? I send a person to the local hardware store to pick up a blue color. Now everything should work out, right? Wrong!

We get hit with knots in the line. These are 100 foot snap lines. This is supposed to be the easiest thing to do… but nooooooooo. So we have to buy some new ones. We were lucky because I really needed the night time for the projector. So while all this was going on we still had hours to spare. I had to remind myself about that aspect. Once we got everything in order I had my students working together flawlessly. They kept themselves in check by making sure all lines were even and perpendicular.

After the grid was complete we had to play the waiting game because were going to project the image on to the wall using a high powered image projector.

My students were starting to understand what was happening. They saw why the grid was important and knew that the projected images needed to fit within certain squares. Armed with contractor crayons they went to the wall and started to trace the images. We had to do it in sections so part of the challenge was lining up the new projected image with the previously traced image. When you have this many people working together… the challenges we encountered were mere speed bumps. This evening was all about getting the grid up and attaching the image to that grid. My students are the best!

Community Art- Eugene Or by Steven Lopez | 16 October, 2008
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For: September 18th, 2008, Eugene Oregon
ARTICLE LINK

Eugene, Ore. – The corner of Lincoln and 8th Ave. will get a little brighter this week thanks to the efforts of a team of at-risk youth from the Eugene-Springfield area, and celebrated muralist artist Steven Lopez.

This group, called the Youth Mural Collective, will turn a 15-by-75 foot gray wall, part of Metropolitan Affordable Housing’s WestTown on 8th housing community near the WOW Hall, into a cacophony of bold shapes, bright colors and vibrant movement. The collective started brainstorming mural ideas during a daylong meeting on September 8 and painting will begin late this week. The mural is scheduled for completion on Sunday, September 23.

Disenfranchised youth are often blamed for problems in the downtown area.  This mural is a living contradiction of the stereotypes.  The Youth Mural Collective represents youth from all across Eugene, including the downtown mall.

Some of the young artists, all between the ages of 15 and 24, will receive a stipend for their work paid for through a $10,000 grant from the Lane County Department of Children and Families’ Youth Action Board, some will receive school credit and some are simply volunteers. Participants were recruited through the 4-J school district, Looking Glass, the Leadership Education Adventure Direction (LEAD) teen program and Juventud FACETA.

The mural will take center stage on Monday, September 22 when Metropolitan Affordable Housing celebrates the grand opening of its WestTown on 8th housing community.

Lopez, a 33-year-old former Eugene resident who grew up in Los Angeles, studied art at both Lane Community College and the University of Oregon. After graduation in 2000 Lopez returned to Southern California where he refined his art. Lopez’s work was recently displayed at the Fenario Gallery as part of the September First Friday Art Walk.

About Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation
Based in Eugene, Ore., Metropolitan Affordable Housing Corporation is a nonprofit organization that builds high-quality, affordable housing in the Eugene/Springfield area. Metro’s communities serve as a catalyst – matching quality affordable housing with support services to promote growth and independence for residents.  Formed in 1992 by a small group of leading citizens, Metro currently operates six affordable housing communities in Eugene/Springfield:  Woodleaf Village, The Park at Emerald Village, College Corner, Oak Leaf Village, Green Leaf Village, and Apple Orchard. WestTown on 8th opened in May 2008, and offers 102 units of affordable housing and nine live/work commercial spaces in downtown Eugene.

Press Release by Steven Lopez | 19 September, 2008
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After a week long brainstorm session it looks like we have all come to a concise example of what the mural is going to look like. I’m really excited about this poject. Within a couple of days the wall will be primed; the scaffolding will be erected and paint will be ready for us to use. Everyone is excited!

Community Art- Eugene Or by Steven Lopez | 19 September, 2008
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In order to get my students on the same page I had them get into groups and bridge their ideas together. They had all agreed on a concrete list of themes. They were recycling, friendship, freedom, music and polar differences. Below you will see them drawing around the theme and then combining their ideas into a single image. With 13-15 students, this worked out really well for those that were good with ideas and not drawing and visa-versa.

Each of these have a title to go with the picture frames. Kind of like a gallery within the mural.

This one is called the “Reusable Rainbow Parade” and features a rainbow coming from the recycling bin. I like it and my students were really psyched when they put this one together.

The next one is called, “Field trip to Nirvana” and features a school bus going surrounded by fish flowing through the river. I was really impressed with the visual metaphor, “school of fish”.

This next one is almost a commentary on society…it’s called, “Opposing reflections of a universal atmosphere”. I’ll let the image tell the story.

the final image is of a bird and snake becoming friends. I don’t have the earlier images that lead up to this final comp…. but I really love the title, “unlikely friendships”.

Community Art- Eugene Or by Steven Lopez | 18 September, 2008
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The challenge has been bringing multiple ideas into a cohesive design. There were many ways I was thinking about doing this. We thought about painting roadways to connect the many aspects of the town. We thought about wavy lines to tell the story. There were many avenues to choose from. I brought up the idea of painting picture frames into the frame of the mural itself. I wanted this to be the structure because I felt that it would empower my students to think big yet keep it contained within certain areas. The mural is 75′ x 15′ and the shear size of it can intimidate a long brush stroke. With this plan I felt it would satisfy both the students and I the director.

The harmony of this piece is brought together through the continuity of the tree and horizon line. Trees are a big part of Oregon culture. With this as the background I”m sure that it will appeal to a broad group of people. This is important to me and I have mentioned to my students that when they paint, they must take responsibility for their community when they paint. We are looking for ways to include as many people as possible.

The biggest thing that my students wanted to show was their love for music. We all agreed and made it the focal point of the mural. As we started thinking about the visuals for this aspect we came up with many elements to contend with. It was almost too many. I thought to myself what would be the most exacting aspect of music…. the beat. I explained to my students that without the drum…without the heartbeat, where would the music come from? it’s built inside us.

I provide the frame work and they build the house. They wanted people to be dancing on the drum itself. I’m all for that! Let it be done!

The final aspects of the painting were the sun and moon. The depiction of Yin and Yang…the visuals of polar opposites in life. The final visual was the banner that would encompass the painting from above. A tattoo aspect that they all wanted. It will be the grand title of the piece which will have the words, Emerald City. A phrased used to describe the green-ness of Eugene.

The sketch below was put together by my student Jake. He took the opportunity to give me the context of this harmonious background.

During this whole process I had my students work in 4 groups for the four sub-themes of the mural. As you can see in the picture above….the red crop-marks denote the areas for the sub themes.

Community Art- Eugene Or by Steven Lopez | 17 September, 2008
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Here is a time lapse in a much larger arena. I worked on this for about 10 hours; over a 3 day period. Enjoy:

Fenario Gallery installation from ikeepmoving.com on Vimeo.

Events> video by Steven Lopez | 16 September, 2008
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Okay, Okay, Okay…I’ve been keeping this on the back burner even though both of my feet are planted in this program as we speak. I was hoping that the Press Release would be out by now; but it’s not. Here is a little run down as to what is happening at this moment (this was synopsis given to the media outlets) by the PR firm.

Lopez will work with a team of transitional youth between 15 and
24-years-old to produce a mural at Metropolitan Affordable Housing’s
WestTown on 8th housing community.  The young artists will receive a
stipend for their work paid for through a $10,000 grant from the Lane
County Department of Children and Families’ Youth Action Board.

The transitional youth, often blamed for downtown problems, have been
the driving force behind this public art project.  The young people will
plan the mural and do all the painting work, under the guidance of Lopez.

There is a planning session on Monday, September 8 at 5 p.m. when the
muralist, participating youth, and representatives from Metro,
the WOW Hall, the Youth Action Board will meet to discuss the mural project.

Okay now that you got that; yesterday was my second day of working with my students. My group is about 13 students who come from high school, public housing and every where in between. There are a lot of people of on all sides of this program that got there fingers involved. The University of Oregon film/video club is documenting this project. They have been there with me everyday and will do so until this project is finished. One of my students will be blogging about this on his site (I will give that info as it becomes available) as well. Many companies are coming together to make this mural a reality. The reality is 75′x15′ outdoor mural! Yes, O. M. G. We have 20 days to complete this mural. Each day is crucial and my students know this.

My first day was a great awakening as I noticed that my students had tenacity to look for their creative voice. Our first day was spent going over artistic language. Tint, contrast, primary colors…etc. Soon after, we started brainstorming. Words covered many sheets of paper which gave us ideas to begin doodling. I wanted them to draw as soon as I got them in class. After they were finished I had them look at their classmates work and talk about it. This was where I started to feel comfortable because the flood gates opened wide. A second draft of their drawings were done so that I could see a clearer vision.

The pictures that I have below were of yesterdays class (I don’t have pics of the first day). In these photos we are creating a concrete outline of what we want to see in the mural. Everything is put to a vote. I remind that this mural needs to be concise so that we do not think outside of our own time constraints. Certain ideas and visuals get put to rest because of this.

We then dive into our own concepts utilizing our new outline. The new pictures are put up on the wall and discussed again. This was were students came up with awesome visuals and ideas. I took those home and I made the framework to house these ideas….I hope they like what I put together.

Community Art- Eugene Or by Steven Lopez | 10 September, 2008
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5 Months into the making and it all came down smoothly. I have a lot of pics to sift through…but in the mean time you can check these pics that my mom took. God should have blessed her eye sight along with her heart because a lot of them came out blurry. MOM! no more drinks for you =)

The gallery is located in Eugene Oregon and has been doing their thing for the past 4-5 years. They really took care of me as all of my materials were ready to go when I got there. The owner Brent and gallery coordinator Chloe did an excellent job through out this process. A big shout goes to them and their team for all the prep work.

I’m compiling a time lapse video (don’t act surprised) of the installation that I did and I will be posting it in the next couple of days. There are other pics I need to get from other people too.

It was a great evening as I had my good friend Matt Nelkin, PSL, Dj Wicked and DV8 bring the sound. A few of my favorite paintings sold too! The After Midnight series was finally unveiled to the public with many praises. I would love to have sold those to the aficionados there but there is something bigger that is brewing and I must hold on to them.

And if you think this was all over for me and I had time to rest…think again! More details to follow

Events by Steven Lopez | 10 September, 2008
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I was at McFadden’s in Portland doing a painting to the sounds of Dj Wicked and DJ P. The venue was interesting as it seemed like not the place for something like this to happen. My homie Wicked kicked it live with his set. That’s why I look so angry. Oh and I want to give a shout out to some people back home! Peace to my Aunt Pancha who I saw out of the blue near City Hall and to my cuz Jo-Jo. I love you guys

Events by Steven Lopez | 4 September, 2008
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