WRITTEN PROPOSAL BY CAROL AND ED.

MURAL TITLE (?)

(tentative sub-titles)
Film
Party
Dance
Music


by Elissa Cederleaf-Dahl’s Special Topics: Site Works – Parkway Theatre class at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design
14 January – 6 May 2008


Ashley Buxbaum
Jake Dwyer
Greg Ganeles
Sarah Hedlund
Allegra Lockstadt
Vicky Martinez
Ed Moorman
Carolina Nulatienpo
Nicole Vanche



When we met with Joe Minjares, he told us the story of his life as a Minnecano, Pepitos, and the Parkway Theatre. He talked about the values that he felt to be central to both him and the community: family, pride, and community.
We wanted the setting of each panel of the mural to be either the Parkway Theatre or the Minnehaha Creek neighborhood. In each panel, there are people from different generations and ethnicities; in the Film panel, we see an elderly man showing his granddaughter (who are of different ethnic backgrounds) the 1930’s film projector showcased in the lobby of the Parkway.
Each of the panels depicts people celebrating together as a family, either as relatives, or neighbors, as shown in the Party panel. They all reflect Minnesota, Mexico, and blending of Old and New Worlds; in the Dance panel, we see adults doing a traditional Mexican hat dance with children playing in contemporary clothes. We made sure that these panels reflected cultural pride by having many people from many cultures celebrating themselves and each other; in the Music panel, each person is playing an instrument specific to their culture – a Mexican Mariachi violinist, a Swedish accordion player, and an African-American jazz saxophonist.

Joe gave us total freedom with the specific subject matter, encouraging us to include our own cultural symbols.
In the first phase of the process we began by learning the history of Mexican muralists including Los Tres Grandes; we brainstormed for themes; and we researched related imagery. We did sketches, including Aztec, Mayan, native Mexican and Art Deco-derived patterns and elements to complement the Parkway’s 1930’s architecture. In the second phase, sub-groups focused on patterns, backgrounds, and central figurative imagery; this allowed us to work according to our individual strengths. Following that, we held a series of group discussions to decide what material would be the most successful and relevant. In the last phase we looked at finalized images from each sub-ground and collaged them together.