Shelter Project “I Belong” - The Story

See more pics and brief description of our project here

This project was in collaboration with The Bubbler’s Making Justice Program. I appreciate your support!

I spent a good chunk of the summer creating with teens at the shelter home in Madison, WI, (USA). When I arrived, I had some personal things happen, forcing me to be out of town, essentially homeless. This isn’t something I would normally share, but the irony is too big to ignore. I needed to be there for myself just as much as for them, making the trip more than worth it.

Our project started with a walk through Olbrich Botanical Gardens, where I pointed out the contrast in the color of the sky vs. water, insects, flowers, trees, the details, observing nature as a designer. Teens and staff joined in the conversation, sharing what they saw. We often walk on our path with our head in another place, face in a phone. When we bring attention to the moment, we can see things, change them with our perspective. This simple technique can break patterns- all change starts with awareness.

From here, I’ll dive right into the fun. We talked while working, and let the design reveal itself as we were outside… wow, did I mention the most important part? Our entire project was outside. Moths, spiders (*side note - you’d be surprised at how many times I had to say “don’t spray paint the spiders” because they’re afraid of them), sounds of birds; just being in an outdoor atmosphere is healing. The design grew as we experimented with techniques and noticed our surroundings. Most weeks involved something to show off the work we’d done, we painted backpacks, shoes, printed shirts and made mandalas while simultaneously adding to the mural.

Our conversations shifted with the dynamic as teens came and went. They had a choice of participation, so some days there were a lot joining us and other days some wanted to stay indoors and watch TV. We sealed our intentions which involved thinking of “what do we want to put into this project?” then writing those words onto the first layer of the mural. I feel a strong need for us to find balance in our lives by accepting we have pieces in ourselves and society that are ignored because they don’t exactly feel good to look at, and when we do can we travel into the light. This coincides with my only suggestion of making the background half light and half dark. My excitement grew as the interest in the mural board heightened and almost immediately a plan was developed.

In the relaxed environment, it was easy to forget these teens were there for a reason. At one point we had to move the table closer to the garage so we could plug in an ankle bracelet, and only in times like these was I reminded that some of them committed crimes. That day in particular we were talking about growing up in trailers, not really knowing we were poor until someone bullied us about it, (Yes, I spent part of my life in a trailer) and fear of going to a new school, the uncertainty. As we continued creating mandalas, I asked the question “Why do we judge people in fancy houses, if we want to BE them? What if I suddenly made it big as an artist, would I be hated then, too?” His answer was “No, because you earned it.” I’ll let you ponder both this question and answer for your own growth. As he continued working on his mandala he noticed “It looks like a plate of nachos” and rolling with it was surprised at how effortlessly it was coming to life.

The thing I love most is introducing a project and having people say “I’m not an artist.” The fear many have is screwing up and others seeing it. Once we get into a flow and they realize the process (like life) is what you make it, this often falls away. If your focus is there, with intention, you have nothing to worry about. A new skill learned was screen printing from Sam Christensen, who joined us in the beginning to show us how to apply our designs to shirts. At first, ink being pulled onto fresh T’s seemed daunting and permanent, but after a few practice runs on paper all turned out great! It was awesome to later be working on the mural board and have a teen show ME how to screen print after this workshop. I recall the energy and excitement of just being together working outside- learning and having fun. We had taken it for granted in the past, and it was so important to tap into something positive after all we’ve gone through as a society.

In the weeks to follow, we worked on decorating shoes after one teen mentioned he wanted to, and slid in there his birthday was approaching. Being in the sunshine and working using spray paint and markers, we added life to plain Vans for a few days. In the meantime the mural board was transforming with the initial layer fading light into dark in the color of healing, blue. The second layer, a circle of leaves also in light and dark, gave a nod to nature and our time outside. Then a star stencil of Spanish or Moroccan tile, moths which we’d seen flying around us while we worked and their chrysalis signifying growth, sometimes ugly (this layer didn’t show up very well since the screen dried quickly in the sun, but we kept it). Lastly the face of a Spanish girl decided by a teen (because that culture wasn’t yet represented on the block) and plants were added. I’m not sure everyone got to see the final product, since they had to leave, but for those of us who did, we were all really surprised at how beautiful it turned out.

For me, my intention sealed into that first layer came to fruition. Our project together showed me it doesn’t matter where you are, you can find that sense of home if you surround yourself with people willing to open, and by embracing who you are. This starts with knowing ourselves, bit by bit relaxing into who we were and realizing the potential of who we can become.

Much thanks to: Teens at Shelter, Shelter Staff, The Bubbler, Sam Christensen.

Currently on display at Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, WI. More info here.