Student-inspired Northeast mural by Los Dos

Artwork by 190 students from Barron, Tom Lea, and Bradley elementary schools provided inspiration for local artists LosDos. This collaborative process has resulted in a mural that will be dedicated from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 4 at Veterans Park, 5301 Salem Drive.

LosDos artists Ramon and Christian Cardenas spoke with students from the schools about expressing their experiences through art. LosDos, whose work embraces and celebrates community, discussed with the students what community means to them.

The students kept journals over an 8-week period, which expressed their ideas of community — friends, family, neighborhood, and personal thoughts. LosDos used the students’ work as inspiration, resulting in a single mural, which will be dedicated Saturday.

The 10-foot tall by 20-foot mural is part of an effort to expand public art in the region.

“It was new and exciting for us to work with so many different partners on a project,” Christian Cardenas said.

This is the 4th year that Artstream, a project of the El Paso Community Foundation, has partnered with artists to educate students on how they create their art, and how those students can express themselves artistically.

The Artstream project integrates fundamentals of fine arts into elementary school classrooms and supports the El Paso Independent School District’s Active Learning Initiative, an interactive, project- based curriculum. Artstream shows teachers how to incorporate music, movement, and the visual arts into everyday classroom lessons to enhance student academic and social development.

This project was made possible by the generous support of the El Paso Community Foundation, The Classroom Fund, and Progress321.

CONTACT:
Eric Pearson, President and CEO, El Paso Community Foundation, 915-533-4020, epearson@epcf.org Stephanie Otero, VP of Operations, El Paso Community Foundation, 915-533-4020, sotero@epcf.org