1. What is your name?
Lisa Hawkins
2. How did you get involved with MLK?
A friend of mine who is an Artist contacted me and asked if I would be interested in Coordinating a large Project. He sent me an email and I contacted Lindsey Wolfson who was representing the Client who wanted the 160 foot long Mural painted on their property Amberwood Place Apartment Homes in Longview, Texas.
Lindsey, interviewed with me and took my Application and I waited about two weeks then she contacted me about being the Mural Coordinator and I accepted.
She told me about a Project she had seen in Miami done by MLK. I was so impressed when she sent me the link. She decided to use MLK with me as the Local Mural Coordinator and Kyle Holbrook with MLK as the Executive Director. We all worked together along with Edward Rawson to plan the Mural.
We got the Community together with Artists who were interested in the Project and had three community meetings. The first meeting was an informational Meeting where we recruited Artists and Members of the Community to become part of this Project. We recruited through the meeting, the Media, and the MLK website, for Artists to compete in a Contest to become one of the 6 Mural Artists to work with 10 Local Youth Artists which we had a separate Competition for the Youth to become one of the Artists to Paint the Mural.
It was quite an exciting time seeing all the wonderful paintings and ideas the Artists had for the Mural.
On the Last big Community Meeting we announced the Winners at the Longview Museum of Fine Arts and had a celebration party celebrating all the Artists who won the competition and for the media sources who had given our Project so much Publicity.
The nice thing was two Artists won the Competition to work with the Youth Artists who saw the Contest Post on the MLK website. They had already done previous MLK Murals and it was so nice working with them and gaining from their experience. Kyle Holbrook was amazing with his knowledge of painting a Mural and made it fun for the Kids.
3. I hear you have a Longview, Texas edition, can you tell me a little about that?
In the first stages of planning the Mural, Kyle or Edward suggested making a name for the project. Since the Mural was dedicated to the Past, Present and Future of Longview, I decided to just name the page "The Longview, Texas Community Mural Project".
Some of the Community Members helped me make this decision.
4. Where is one place that you would love to paint a Mural?
I would love to see more done locally in Longview and the surrounding areas. If I had a place away from my hometown area, I would say Miami or California or any Tropical Place.
5. Do you have anything else to say about your experiences?
I think doing a Mural the MLK way is a wonderful experience for not only the Artists but the Community and Kids who get involved.
The Kids get to know established Artists and learn from them. The Community got involved with the actual painting of the Mural too especially on "Paint day" where we painted Bright Orange Swirls on the Mural!
This kind of Project is really beneficial to the Youth Artists because it gives them the confidence to use their talent in the outside world. They are recognized for their grand achievement by not only their family and peers but the world gets to see what they have created.
It is a beautiful thing.
