During my 4th year working with students at Choice High School in Shelton, WA, we launched the first version of the Diversity Mural: a wall of mosaic hearts made by students, local and regional community, and by mosaic artists all across the U.S., plus Scotland, Australia and Canada. It was installed during spring of 2018 and will be completed by fall. There is a silhouetted figure blowing kisses, which are hearts, and those float away forming a large rainbow. Student Evelyn Gaitan designed and painted the silhouetted figure, along with another placed on the far side of the mural, holding a butterfly net.
In spring of 2018, I teamed up with Cherie Bosela, a mosaic artist and owner of Luna Mosaic Arts in Orlando, FL. Together, we coordinated a second version of the mural as a direct response to the Pulse Nightclub shooting, and a message of solidarity and support for the LGBTQIA community. Over 1000 hearts were sent to Luna Mosaic Arts from all over the world. Cherie and a lot of volunteers worked hard to prepare and install the hearts – a huge undertaking. This wall, located on the Lamp Shade Fair wall at 1336 N. Mills Ave., is now completed, and if you search the hashtag #diversitymural, you can see how it serves as a “selfie-spot” allowing more people to become part of the message.
The dedication took place on Sept. 21, 2018. Here are many of the volunteers and the Commissioner, Patty Sheehan.
There was no actual budget for either of these murals. We used an online fundraiser to pay for installation expenses for the Orlando mural.
Watch videos about the mural in Shelton here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvMTftgJ6mw and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VV0Om5MmNQ
