Paint Workshops with the Community: Reversing Roles from Passive Viewers to Active Makers of the Object of Art
The Binational Mural Project began as a community-scale reaction to the fourteen foot tall metal structure that had been built on the west side of the border crossing between Calexico (California) and Mexicali (Baja California) as part of Operation Gatekeeper, a federal program designed to fortify the border fences along the U.S./Mexico border. The local citizenry began a series of discussions asking what course to take in light of the recent (December 1997) instatement of an unsightly wall built from military surplus landing mats. These talks culminated with the formation of the City of Calexico's Art and Culture Commission, a panel comprising prominent members of the community who in turn invited San Francisco artist Armando Rascón to respond to their concerns regarding a proposed public art project for the border fence site. Rascón conceived a public artwork involving community input and educational outreach as integral elements in the overall design of a five-year project. Since its launch in November 1998, this unique cultural enterprise has hosted over two thousand volunteers that have attended monthly paint workshops and advanced the notion of new public art at the intersection with civic design for the border region.
El Proyecto Mural Binacional surgió de una reación comunitaria que tuvo la ciudadanía cuando se construyó una vaya de catorce pies de altura entre Calexico (California) y Mexicali (Baja California) como parte de la Operación Guardián, un programa federal creado para fortificar la frontera entre los Estados Unidos y México (diciembre 1997). Hubo una série de discursos en los cuales se discutieron las tantas posibilidades de cambiar el rostro borboso de la cerca metálica que se había llevado a cabo al oeste de la aduana en Calexico. Se formó la Comisión de las Artes en la ciudad de Calexico, un círculo cultural con protagonistas de la comunidad, el cual invitó la visión del artista Armando Rascón, planteando una intervención artística para la cerca fronteriza. Rascón creó una propuesta de arte público, incluyendo elementos comunitarios y aspectos educacionales como parte de la totalidad de un proyecto de largo plazo, de cinco años. Desde su inicio en noviembre del año 1998, el Proyecto Mural Binacional ha contado con el apoyo de miles de voluntarios que han acudido sus talleres mensuales de pintura, aportando nuevos diálogos para el enriquecimiento del arte público y diseño industrial de la zona fronteriza.
Pilot crew
A group of youth from Carmen Durazo's Service Learning Class at Calexico High School descended on the borderfence site in April 1998 to kick off Border Metamorphosis: Binational Mural Project, an ambitious two-mile community involved public art project at the international site of the US/Mexico border. Over the course of four years over two thousand volunteers participated in once monthly weeklong paint workshops with the artist through 2002.
- April 1998: First Day of the Pilot Crew at the site
- Calexico High School Service Learning students take charge
- Enthusiasm was sky high
- The action taken by the students was empowering
- The site of the border fence was transformed for and by the students
- Passive viewer roles were reversed to active makers of the object of art
Project Artist Armando Rascón with Teacher Volunteer.
Elementary school student volunteers
Armando Rascón would commence each Paint Workshop by boarding the school bus to deliver a brief lecture on the borderlands, the history of the fence and the Olmec Civilization. The students would disembark the school bus and form a circle to complete the talk.
- teams were formed to work on different colors
- Project Leaders were always available to deliver supplies
- A local McDonald's would take orders to provide free lunch to the kids
- Five different groups would participate per week, one group daily.
- At the completion of the workshops the volunteers would erupt in a massive applause!
