Smoke Signals 9
JANUARY 15, 2012
RDdao-aDDsfts ftafce weir mMde scDnooD gym
By Ron Karten
Smoke Signals staff writer
For three Grand Ronde youth,
the Tribe's first mural project is a
chance to work with professional
artists and contribute to the Tribal
community.
The finished mural will sit above
the maintenance shed behind the
Grand Ronde Tribal Housing Au
thority building, at the entrance to
the Tribe's housing development.
It has been two years in the plan
ning, but now the work is under
way and the mural crew expects
it to be finished before the month
is out.
"It took quite awhile like any
thing does, but we had good people
to see it through," said Tribal Coun
cil member Steve Bobb Sr., who was
at the former middle school gym
on Saturday, Jan. 7, as the paint
started to go up on the 64-by-12-foot
(at its highest) mural.
"The project was designed to en
able youth to express their artistic
abilities in a positive and meaning
ful way in response to gang graffi
ti," said Tribal member Lisa Leno,
manager of the Youth Prevention
arm of Social Services.
The graffiti problem vanished
soon after the Community Aware
ness Team started its work, but
the mural project kept moving
forward.
Enter muralist Karl Abramovic
(www.americansurreal.com), an
Oregon native who is most recently
a McMinnville import from Los
Angeles, where he painted televi
sion and commercial sets as well as
public works mural projects.
"Murals are a good way of bring
ing community members together,"
said Abramovic. "In Los Angeles,
taggers would prowl around be
hind me, watching what I did."
When he brought a mural pro
posal to the Tribe, the timing was
right and Youth Prevention set
When completed, a mural with
this design will hang above the
maintenance shed behind the
Grand Ronde Tribal Housing
Authority building.
vr ft
Tribal members Anna Jeffers, front, and Alexandria Thorsgard paint over
lines that were traced on the mural as they work on the Grand Ronde Mural
Project at the former Middle School gym on Wednesday, Jan. 1 1 .
about finding funding. each committed $10,000 to the
Ultimately, Youth Prevention project and Tribal Council added
and the Tribal Housing Authority $5,000.
1 y geaaeiM
g V "35. r 1 ' x '
Abramovic brought on three
other artists all with experience
with youth or murals, he said. They
included Spider Moccasin, also
known as Mr. M, and sometimes
as Marcus Moseley (Wasco-Warm
Springs); Toma Villa (Yakama),
who is known for painting the
mural on Macy's Grocery store in
Warm Springs; and Leo Wayman,
an artist who has worked with
Abramovic before.
Grand Ronde Tribal members
Anna Jeffers, Heyaza Brien and
Alexandria Thorsgard were se
lected as interns for the project,
and before it is done they will
have rolled paint over the solid
sections, painted in details from
an Abramovic design and learned
about murals from those who do
them best.
"The young people can stand
back and say, 'We had a part in
that,' " said Bobb, who designed
the West Valley Veterans Memo
rial on the Tribal campus. "The
different images should be pretty
inspirational."
"I've always loved drawing and
wanted to learn a little more from
professionals," said Thorsgard,
12. "When I first started, I had no
idea. They're really good teachers.
They're showing us techniques,"
Jeffers, 17, described the experi
ence as, "Really positive. They tell
you about how the paint dries, how
to mix it."
"I liked how they enlarged it
with the projector," said Brien,
14. "They teach you how to get
the paint on smooth. There's lots
of math with paint mixing," he
observed. He names art, carving,
painting and cartooning among
his skills.
"The plan is," said Tribal mem
ber Cristina Lara, who is a Youth
Prevention Intern also working
on the project, "that this is a dif
ferent style of art we wanted to do
in the community. Maybe more for
Tribal housing. This is the begin
ning of having this kind of art in
our community. I'm glad it's here.
I'm so proud this is here. This is
going to be a great thing for our
community."
Tribal
members
clockwise
from left,
Heyaza
Brien, Anna
Jeffers and
Alexandria
Thorsgard
practice
outlining
before they
actually
begin work
on the mural.
Photos by Michelle Alaimo