Jane Golden Session

 (I did not take this Photograph, but I really like it!)

On this misty morning,  I left my house in Fishtown and road across town to the Mural Arts Program HQ in Fairmount. Cars were abundant in the early morning rush as I scrambled onto 17th and Mt. Vernon. I locked my bike outside found myself walking into the building with Jane as she started her day.

If you ever have the chance to visit the Mural Arts Building, I suggest you do it-- it is incredible. We walked up the few floors to her office and began to speak about the project. Coffee was poured, recorders were prepared, and all was ready to go.

Our conversation began how all of my sessions do, with talking about the artist's background. Where they grew up, how they got started as an artist, members of their family...ect.  From the beginning I could see that Jane has an abundance of passion. Her heart belongs with the program and it was mesmerizing to hear her speak with such conviction. 

I will save most content of the interview itself for a later date, but I thought I would touch on a few things Jane said that have stuck with me throughout the day. When Jane began her first mural in LA, she was too late to be considered for the grant, but she would not take no for an answer. Asking what the hypothetical application would be like she organized all the needed materials. From community members, to an interesting wall, to ideas for the mural itself she orchestrated the whole process. It was this persistence that landed her the grant. She even knocked on Jane Fonda's door  to ask her dedicate the mural (and she did!)

Jane is tenacious and brave. And while she may not paint anymore, she makes and effort to reach out to the various divisions of the ever-growing Mural Arts Program. We spoke about how murals can be politicizing, even if they are just a landscape. That good murals can create this domino effect in neighborhoods, from painting, to cleaning up the streets, to fostering a sense of community.

One other piece that I found very interesting, was when Jane described artists as being able to make social change relevant for citizens. As an artist myself, I often wonder how I can create change. Does it come from direct engagement outside of the art world? Or can the art world function as a catalyst for change? I guess the only way to find out is through trying and putting myself and my work out there.

Our conversation drifted in and out of herself as an organizer and the Mural Arts Program itself. When I asked her whether she is interested in being a role model for future generations, she responded, of course. She said that she is inspired by young people and their drive.  She wants them to understand what it means to be on the ground working in these real situations. It is one thing to speak about doing them, it's another to execute them. I had actually just had this same conversation the night before with a friend of mine. He said, you can go read a critical book about social practice or you can talk to people to people who are working with that practice every day. They are the ones facing the challenges and building a system that works within that public space.

So all in all, it was a wonderful experience and I hope to have a strong relationship with Mural Arts in the future. Thank you to Jane who was so generous with her time.

Here is a link to Mural Arts Program and the muralLAB.

"muraLAB: To push its creative boundaries, Mural Arts has developed an experimental creativity hub called muraLAB.  muraLAB is a laboratory for investigating muralism in the 21st century, as artistic media evolve, technologies emerge, the concepts of real/virtual communities merge, and the lines between public and private space dissolve. muraLAB will serve as a think-tank as we critically explore our dual role of  expert in traditional community-based public art practices and leader in the conversation about muralism’s future."

The muralLab has a program LEAPs (Local Emerging Artists Program,) which gives the chance for young emerging artists to do temporary artwork in the city through the Mural Arts Program. One of the commissioned artists last year was Jess Perlitz, a great artist who just happens to be my performance professor.

Oh and saw this so I thought I'd pass it along
Though Experiments- Conversation

Lastly,
Thank you to all the women who have been mentoring me thus far. It really means a lot to learn from all of you. I look back to the beginning of the project and I can't believe how much I've learned. It's an incredible gift I have been given, and I hope to share it with whoever is interested.