Richmond Times Dispatch, August 6, 2010
First Fridays Art Walk in August kicked off to the funky sounds of a brass band entertaining passers-by and kid artists outside Richmond Center Stage.
The No BS! Brass Band belted out tunes from beyond New Orleans as people surveyed five Dumpsters whose sides were turned into murals by young painters from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond.
The project, dubbed "Paint Outside the Box" by co-sponsor ART 180, was the culmination of two weeks of mentoring by local volunteer artists with the children at their local units. The youngsters planned the designs and discussed the themes with the artists, said ART 180 Program Coordinator Betsy Kelly.
About 75 children spent yesterday painting the 22-by-6-foot sides of the waste receptacles with Earth-friendly themes. The Dumpsters will remain at CenterStage's open lot at Broad and Seventh streets until Monday. Then Ace Recycling, which owns the receptacles, will use them at construction sites around the state, Kelly said.
Angel Brewer, 10, of the Southside club, showed onlookers her group's murals of the Earth and sun, with the words "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" in prominent lettering.
"We decided that half our Earth is with people who don't like to recycle -- it's dirty and stuff," she said. "This is the good side -- they like to recycle and it's all clean."
The creative effort, which left her with splotches of green paint on her blue Boys & Girls T-shirt, was declared "awesome." Margaret Doran came from her residence in Richmond's Fan District to admire the mobile murals and walk around the Main Richmond Public Library's galleries for First Fridays. The children's artwork was wonderful, she said.
Check out the following three videos highlighting the event and their wonderful work.
Untitled from Richmond CenterStage DALC on Vimeo.
Paint Outside The Box Video #2 from Richmond CenterStage DALC on Vimeo.
Paint Outside The Box Day #1 from Richmond CenterStage DALC on Vimeo.