St. Vincent Cancer Center Mosaic

We are excited to share the final product of the mosaic project at the St. Vincent Cancer Center. The original painting underlying the mosaic was created by Yael Buxbaum and I; the scene was inspired by members of a cancer support group at St. Vincent's. Once the painting was complete, I set up a corner with tiles and chairs in the Cancer Center and invited people to stop by and help put the mosaic together. The project took on a life of its own and truly became a collaborative effort; friends, patients, patients' family members, doctors, nurses, administrative staff... anyone and everyone helped with the piece. Often someone would come to place just one tile and stay for hours. The space of the mosaic became a calm and safe place for people to do art and relax. You can learn more about the process and see the final product in the following video:

To everyone who helped with the mosaic or supported the project, thank you. The mural will be hanging in the lobby of the Cancer Center if you would like to see it in person.

Collaborative Summer Murals

I'm excited to share two videos put together by the local production group Ben Tamir Studios about projects that I participated in over the summer at two separate locations.

The first, at the JCC in Kansas, showcases the sense of community and friendship that JCC camps work to build. Together with young campers, we explored ideas of public art and collaboration as we worked together to create a lively mural. View a video recap here:

The second project with young campers this summer took place at Hooverwood in Indianapolis. We wanted something that would add joy and vibrance to the space--luckily, these are things that the campers had in abundance! Making a "quilt of generations," each camper had space to express his or herself within the space of the mural, which is now hung in Hooverwood. To see more, feel free to watch the video!

Vote for St. Vincent's!

Together, the St. Vincent Cancer Care and I have applied for a LIVESTRONG community impact grant - The Creative Center: Hospital Artist-in-Residence program. This is a very exciting opportunity for us to help cancer survivors deal with the stresses of treatment through artistic expression.

We need YOUR vote to WIN! The facilities with the most votes will win this meaningful program grant. To vote, please click on the following link and please pass on to others too!

http://vote.livestrong.org/vote2012/regions/5/113-st-vincent-cancer-care/

Thanks so much for making a difference!

St. Vincent's Partnership

I'm so excited to share my progress on a mural at St. Vincent's hospital in Indianapolis:

I'm thrilled to be working there, and I'd love for you to stop by to view the mural and chat with me while I work! You can check my Twitter (@artbyjoani) or Facebook page (Art by Joani) to see when I'll be working!

Christel House Academy mural

This past summer, I and Israeli artist Yael Buxbaum helped students at an art camp at Christel House Academy create a mural. After spending two weeks with the art camp at Christel House, Yael and I were left with many wonderful memories and a rekindled passion for working with children.  We came to the school with paints, brushes, panels and several lesson plans.  We left the hard work of content and design of the painting to the kids. 

They were told about being commissioned by the Indianapolis Art Center for a large mural, and we were told that it needed to be completed in two weeks.  After sharing pictures of how the children from other Christel House schools operate, they decided not only to have the mural feature all of the schools but also to join them by roads, sky and  --- most importantly --- a shared passion for education.

The project opened their minds to how the WPA projects during the Great Depression are relevant to our lives today.  They wanted to create a mural that brought hope and connection to their school.  Every day the kids learned more and more how to work together.  The first day we applied a coat of primer onto the boards.  The students were well aware of how much painting time they were given.

The last day of painting I noticed that the kids learned how to respect the painting as a whole and were much more thoughtful and patient with adding their images.  We were not only privileged to work with the children of the art camp but we were also honored to share the space with the art teacher, Gessica Mathis and Courtney.  They were incredibly supportive of the project and helped us move quickly past the stumbling blocks and into a supportive and safe space that fostered creativity and balance throughout the entire two weeks. It was a true partnership.

During the dedication ceremony we were able to Skype with one of the schools from India.  This experience allowed the children to communicate their ideas behind the mural and also state how it helped them build community and hope within the school setting.  This experience reinforced the power of art to the campers as well as how appreciative the community at large is of their contribution.

Learn more about the mission of Christel House by visiting their website: http://www.christelhouse.org/.