Students stand in front of their mural in process

A Community of Art: The Process of a Mural

By Seth Van der Eems, Isabella Marsh, Bethany Cook, Maddy Smith and Sandra Montes

With a blank drawing board for a design, those of us on the mural team began the process with a discussion of key themes we hoped to focus on. Our partnership with Newberg’s Rotary Club led us to explore the central causes of Rotary and how we noticed those causes on display in the town. We were particularly drawn to the causes of protecting the environment and saving mothers and children, as the natural environment and familial community are significant to the foundation of Newberg.

In tandem with these Rotary focuses, we compiled a list of features that we felt contributed to Newberg’s identity, including camellia flowers, the Willamette River, indigenous roots, wine country vineyards, and local wildlife. Taking into consideration our Rotary causes of choice and our list of Newberg’s features, we decided to develop a key theme of “Care and Connection,” emphasizing the value and presence of these two subjects within the community.

mural in process

As we centered on key focuses for the mural, we began the sketching process. Individually, each student would bring their own ideas, which we would look at together. We discussed the various sketches and made note of aspects we liked. We would then take the ideas we wanted to move forward with and repeated the sketching process.

“I have valued learning the process of creating a mural, and working alongside a great team to carry it out.” - Sandra

Toward the end, we could definitely see the overall themes becoming more prominent and the layouts becoming stronger. After refining for several weeks, it wasn’t all too difficult picking a final layout! From between two tentative designs – one mainly made up of text and the other of organic landscape elements – we agreed on what we believed to be the most concise yet encompassing of the themes and the strongest layout.

Student artists are focused while painting

With the rough layout complete, we dove into working on the individual elements. Converting the hard copy into a digital file was the next step on the list, which would allow the design to be manipulated with efficiency and ensure consistency within our colors.

Like with any art project, staying within budget is key! As we gathered supplies and began considering paint colors, we worked to reduce the colors as much as possible without over simplifying the design.

“As an out-of-state student, it’s been very special to feel that I am making a contribution to the Newberg community I’ve come to love and call home.” - Bethany

Before we could start painting, we had to prepare the supplies we needed. This included selecting paint colors to match the design, purchasing brushes and paint rollers, and renting equipment to paint the mural. Luckily we have a few community partners that have helped this process along. JK Paint helped with the priming, Ace and Sherwin Williams supplied the paint, and Reed Rental helped with the scaffolding and some equipment we needed.

Ironically, we started this mural painting at night, sketching out the design using a projector onto the wall. An unexpected drizzle before we projected the design left us with a rainbow and an air of hope for the coming week. We returned on Monday to begin adding color to the wall, blocking out the main colors and sections, planning to paint between rainy days. On Wednesday we welcomed the community, rain or shine, to join the painting process. The next few days were filled with paint splatter, laughs and rain as we finished up the mural.

Student smiles while painting

Walking through the entire process of painting a mural has been a valuable learning experience. We students have witnessed firsthand the sheer amount of planning, collaboration and coordination required of such an undertaking. Apart from the thoughtful creation of a design and the painting itself, we were tasked with numerous required applications and providing opportunities for community feedback. The final visual product displays both the artistic planning and the administrative preparation that goes into creating a mural.

“Working on a mural has been a hope of mine since first seeing one in process, and I’m so happy to say I now have! Being a part of this project has given me strong foundational knowledge of the process, experience designing with a team, and has blessed me with the joy of making something that reflects the home Newberg has been for me while here at Fox.” - Isabella

You can find the mural in real life at the corner of 1st Street and Blaine Street on the side of Ixtapa Restaurant.

The finished mural