Berkeley community mural to be unveiled later this month
By Kristin Bender
Oakland Tribune
Posted: 10/02/2009 03:41:38 PM PDT
BERKELEY — The "Health Through Music" mural at the corner of Alcatraz Avenue and Ellis Street will be unveiled this month. The piece was created by 25 homeless and low-income youth artist trainees, as well as a team of professional artists.
The two-story, 70-foot long mural will be unveiled at a celebration from noon to 1:30 p.m. Oct. 17. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Max Anderson are scheduled to speak and there also will be two bands playing at the celebration.
Young people with Youth Spirit Artworks started the mural design process in late June and worked on it through the summer. Of the 25 homeless and low-income East Bay youth who designed and painted the mural, eight of them were employees of Berkeley YouthWorks, which is funded by President Barack Obama's stimulus money.
The mural follows the health theme that Youth Spirit has focused on over the past three years while doing various art projects in South Berkeley and other parts of the city.
Some of the people represented in the mural include a 75-year-old South Berkeley neighborhood activist, a lead musician in a blues band, and late musicians Michael Jackson, Tupac and Selena.
The senior artist on the project was Edy Boone, one of the women who worked on the San Francisco Women's Building. Her artist assistants were Jose Gonzalez and David Stern Gottfried.
Berkeley youth turn street barriers into art
Artists set to wield their craft against other local eyesores throughout town
Oakland Tribune Staff Reporters
Article Last Updated: 12/01/2007 02:42:50 AM PST
A GROUP of South and West Berkeley volunteers have done some unique artwork that shows that a little bit of color and imagination can make even a plain old street barrier look better.
More than two dozen teens, residents and UC Berkeley student volunteers created mosaic designs for two of eight street barriers earlier this month.
And they've just begun.
A teen group called Youth Spirit will be completing the project this winter and spring in South Berkeley's Lorin neighborhood.
The project is called Beautiful South Berkeley Bollards and Benches. The first two street barriers — or bollards — are located at Alcatraz Avenue and California Street.
Young people created their own designs with the mosaic tiles and grouted them, organizers said. The project is funded with an arts and culture grant from San Francisco Foundation's Koshland Program, as well as by local business art bench sponsors, including Whitehouse Builders, organizers said.
The next step in the project will involve more than 50 young people — ages 16 to 25 — who will do artwork and painting on 10 wooden art benches for South Berkeley's Adeline Street corridor.