My 50 foot painting in the Bronx!

Most people think of my paintings in terms of inches, not feet! And rightly so, as I’m a portrait artist who strives for a high level of detail in each of my pieces. I do, however, make an exception now and then.  My 2005 mission trip to the Bronx in 2005 presented me with an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up: to give a dark and desolate neighborhood a splash of life and color!

It started with a wall… a double handball court at a school that got vandalized often.  In the aftermath of 9/11, the school officials thought that a patriotic painting on the wall would not only be a thing of beauty, but would discourage graffiti artists. When our team from a local church in Brentwood, TN showed up to paint the interior walls of the school, they asked if there were any artists who were interested in working on a “big” project.

My "canvas"

I have to say that I was hesitant to volunteer, having never painting anything on this scale before, but I knew it was a great way to leave my artistic mark on the city and bring a little hope and excitement to the kids who went to the school!

I was told I had 2.5 days to design, plan, and execute the project, and I could recruit other team members to help. Five of us put all of our energy into the project, not knowing if we’d be able to pull it off in time.

Planning stages - lots of painter's tape and size calculations going on here.

I got over my mild fear of heights.

I decided to go with a stained glass look, out of sheer necessity if nothing else.  This way, I could design and mask off everything and just put a dab of the right color in each block so that we could work quickly as a team. It worked well, and some neighborhood children even got to help!

Amazingly, the school officials overseeing our work allowed us to include a cross and a scripture about the name of the Lord being a strong tower. This thrilled me, as it wasn’t something that I thought was remotely possible given the PC society that we live in. There was definitely a softer attitude and renewed gratefulness from people in the years following 9/11.

Messages of hope

Finishing touches...

At last, it’s completed! I know this wasn’t possible on my own strength. Five years later, I still look back and am amazed at what was done. The most rewarding part of the experience was seeing children come by as we were working and them saying how excited they were to start school that fall because of this painting. It’s proof that a little artwork and a little love can make a big difference! I hope you’ll think of ways that you can shine into someone’s life this week.

The finished mural at Bronx Junior High School #117, Bronx, NY.