Cityscape Workshop with Teens and the Making Justice Program

My most recent workshop with The Bubbler’s Making Justice Program resulted in a really fun project with shelter and detention center teens. We kicked off by watching slides from the graffiti and street art exhibition I saw in New York, “Beyond the Streets,” as I spoke a bit about the artists and their work. It was fun to share some info on my favorites including Portugese artist Vhils, who uses explosives to create faces on abandoned buildings (“with permission,” I explained). Towards the end, I shared images of my own most recent street art pieces, which sparked quite a few questions; “how long did that take you?, who is that?, can you paint my face?” And for the project I prepped canvases with outlines of the Madison skyline and showed a few examples of different graffiti and traditional interpretations of it for a base.

The teens got to work faster than I’ve ever seen them before, using paint markers and acrylic paints. Both groups created incredibly unique pieces with only a few choosing to make their own works from scratch. They were really proud of their pieces, many wanting to finish after the workshop and take them home, which I would rate a success!

We also had the pleasure of Spaghetti, the bearded therapy dragon (lizard) joining us for the shelter group. It was hard to compete at times, and you can see why.

Thank you Madison Public Library Bubbler, Juvenile Detention Center and Shelter Staff.