This is going to be BIG!

And I mean that literally.  Chris Vincent's mural is going to be HUGE.  I can't help my (almost) 9-year-old daughter make a horse on a regular sheet of paper without getting some dimension terribly wrong.  That's why I'm the "behind the scenes" lady on this collaboration.  I'll help Chris and Denise, Good Friend's co-founder and an artist in her own right, get the team of junior artists squared away, along with all the funding they need to get this project going.

Which brings up two more important points: This is going to be BIG in other ways.  First, it's a big cooperative effort.  We at Good Friend, Inc., are looking at identifying two elementary school students from each of Waukesha's 17 elementary schools to help paint the bottom leaf border.  When you consider that there are only two days of school left, and we only have seven schools' kids confirmed, you see wherein our problem lies.  Further complicating the issue is that Hillcrest, Randall, and Saratoga as we've known them will cease to function as they have this month (with Hillcrest merging into Pleasant Hill and the latter two becoming Waukesha STEM Academy buildings for the '10-'11 school year).  Still, we want this mural to be a reflection of what has been as well as an acknowledgement of where we're going.

The other BIG aspect of this project is the funding.  Chris has spent hundreds of dollars already to prepare for the kickoff.  She needs $13K in all to cover the costs associated.  To date, more than $5K has come in.  That leaves more than half that needs to be raised by July 10, when Chris is hoping to start the mural.  The really cool part is that business and/or individuals who donate $100 or more get their name in a leaf on the mural, and those who donate $500 or more get an art-quality print.

We all have an opportunity to be part of something BIG here.  Whether you're going to be a junior artist (contact Denise at 262-391-1369 for more info), a financial contributor (mail checks payable to Waukesha Historical Mural Project , c/o Waukesha State Bank, 151 E. St. Paul Ave., PO Box 648, Waukesha, WI  53187-0648; or drop them off at any Waukesha State Bank location), and/or an appreciative community member proud of Waukesha's past and excited about it's future, you don't want to miss out.  So spread the word about this blog.  It's going to be a really BIG summer!