Moving Lives of Kids Mural revealed the mural they created with educators and students for the Madison and Sun Prairie School Districts at the Urban Collaborative conference Friday.
One of the three panels of the mural went to the Sun Prairie Area School District office, the second to the Madison Metropolitan School District Office and the last back to Arizona State University in the Urban Collaborative office, MLK Mural executive artist Kyle Holbrook said.
MLK Mural is an organization that creates public art in schools or communities, Holbrook said. Besides murals, they also produce sculptures and performances. This is their fifth year working with Urban Collaborative. The murals are a tool for inspiration and education, and they are public, so anyone walking by can see them. Holbrook has been the executive artist of MLK Mural for the past 22 years.
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“I saw the power that education can have. A lot of my friends didn’t have mothers and fathers that were in education,” Holbrook said. “I know … education as a way to accomplish your dreams, no matter where you’re from.
The murals are created with the theme of the conference, with this year’s being anti-racism. The murals are made with attendees of the Urban Collaborative conference and students, who share ideas and draw directly on the mural.
Urban Collaborative is a professional learning community, Executive Director of Urban Collaborative and associate professor at Arizona State University Lauren Katzman said. They hold two conferences every year to work to improve inclusion and equity and special education at the district level. Urban Collaborative works with 110 school districts across 27 states, Katzman said.
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Students can participate in the underpainting phase of the MLK Mural which means they create an outline for the final piece. Holbrook said about 100 students came to put their ideas on the mural Thursday, consisting of symbols and affirmations.
“Their contributions show through because you use a certain orange where you paint over, but . . . when you come up close, you still see the images and messages,” Holbrook said.
A symbol that is prevalent on the murals is butterflies. Holbrook said butterflies are often a symbol of change, and in this case a change into anti-racist practices. There are messages saying “be yourself,” “have faith” and more. Holbrook said an Indigenous student wrote “red and proud.”
UW Emerit faculty in the School of Education Gloria Ladson-Billings was the first to put her ideas on the mural and spoke at the conference Friday.
“I know the importance of . . . myself and my art and especially said MLK mural,” Holbrook said. “I use art as a tool to educate and that’s why we always partner with organizations that really bring educators from around the country together.”
