Before we paint a mural, the ArtworkZ Public Art & Design Program prepares and primes the wall with KILLZ 2 or Stain Bloc. Once the mural is painted and complete sealer is used on the finished mural to protect it from the elements. We use Thompson’s Masonry, Cement and Stone Weather Sealer, which is an oil based sealant. We find that these sealers extend the life of a wall by five years or more. This protects the murals against weather only. It does not protect them against graffiti. The sealers that protect against graffiti are too toxic -- they would destroy the paint.

2. How long does it take to paint a mural?
The average time is six to eight weeks. Soaring To New Heights" at Harvard Elementary School took two weeks because it had to be finished in time for the school’s end of the year dedication opening. "The World Is In Our Hands" at Jeff Davis High School, which is two stories high and 100 feet long, took three months. The weather can often play a factor in the scheduling of outside murals particularly.

3. How are murals made?
The methods used to create today's murals are essentially the same as those used by the Egyptians, Leonardo da Vinci, Diego Rivera and John Biggers. Though these ancient techniques have been updated with modern technologies and materials, mural making remains one of the most labor intensive and physically rigorous art forms.

There are four primary methods for moving an image from paper to wall. Each has its advantages.

Grid System
This is by far the most common method used in the ArtworkZ Program. First the artist superimposes a grid of vertical and horizontal lines over the original drawing, dividing the image into little squares. Next, he creates a larger, equivalent grid on the wall surface, in which each square on the wall is in direct proportion to the same square on the paper or canvas, e.g., 1:1, in which one inch in the original image equals one foot in the mural. The artist then reproduces each square in the original drawing on its equivalent square on the wall. When all the squares are filled, the artist has a replica of the original -- magnified to wall size.

Direct Projection
A very time efficient method involves nighttime projection of an image directly on a mural wall. The artists then trace the image right onto the wall. We have discovered that this method enables the image to get to the wall sooner - an advantage when tight deadlines are an issue, and time is money.

Photo Transfer (on paper, parachute cloth, non-woven media)
In this method, an artist projects a slide of the original artwork onto an interface material that is taped up on an inside wall. A tracing of the projected image is made on the interface, which is then taken to the mural site and put up on the wall where it serves as a guide for reproducing the basic shapes and color breaks of the original image. Sometimes, large elements or even an entire mural is created on the interface material, which is then permanently attached to the mural surface with acrylic gel -- much like a giant decoupage. Early mural efforts using this method used craft paper or parachute cloth. Today, artists use a polyester non-woven media, similar to that used as a lining in dressmaking. This material does not distort when wet and soaks up the acrylic paint well. The cloth's smoothness makes an excellent painting surface, while its lightness and thinness enable it to be easily adhered to the mural wall.

Stencil (a.k.a. Michelangelo Method)
Another traditional but less frequently used method is the stencil, which was used by Renaissance artists, as a means of scaling up images. This method involves projecting or recreating an image on paper or some other interface material. Small holes are made in the interface, following the outlines of the image. The interface material is then taken to the mural site and taped to the wall where a bag filled with chalk is lightly tapped over the holes. When the interface is removed, the outline of the image appears on the wall in small chalk dots, which the artist then uses as a guide.

We strongly feel that the first method is the most time effective and that the second method has a stronger educational function. We encourage the primary artist to use whichever method they are more accustomed to.

4. What does a mural cost?
Murals can cost from $2,000 to as much as $100,000, depending on their size and complexity. A small mural, such as a short low wall, 8 feet by 10 feet, can cost $2,000 to $5,000. A medium-sized mural, 10 feet by 20 feet, can cost $7,000 to $10,000. A large mural, such as one you might see on a two-story building, can cost around $15,000 to $25,000. Some very large murals, such as "True Glory" (12'x 68') for the Fountain Of Praise, can cost up to $75,000. The cost of a gallon of mural paint ranges from $25 to $60, $100 to $150 for five gallon drums depending on the color. The cost of the sealer is $40 per 5-gallons. Scaffolding ranges from $1,200 to $2,000 for a couple of months. The scaffolding is usually the single most expensive component of producing a mural, primarily because of the cost of transporting and assembling it. The ArtworkZ crew is expert at building scaffolding, and this is one of their hardest jobs.

Artists are usually paid between $20-$75 per hour, depending again on the mural size, their experience, the complexity of the mural and the duration of the project. If we ever have any money left over from a mural, we use it to increase the salaries of the artists or use it to produce commemorative t-shirts or posters of the mural.

5. How do you decide on an idea for a mural?
We work with the communities in which the murals will be located. We go to meetings organized by the community, knock on doors, and talk to people in parks. We listen to everyone's ideas and then the primary artist schedules a meeting with the proposed site to seek permission from the owner if the owner is not the one requesting the mural. Next, preliminary designs are developed based on what’s been discussed. We bring the sketches back to the community and let everyone see them. Sometimes they like them, sometimes they don't. We make changes until everyone is satisfied.

Sometimes a funder has an idea for a subject. For example, Depelchin Children’s Center funded a mural on Childhood Development. Whenever we can, we try to match a funder's interest with that of a community that has requested a mural. In this way we try to respond to the demand for our ArtworkZ projects. One of our perpetual challenges, especially with murals that are intended to deliver a corporate "message," is to keep them from looking like advertisements. We try to encourage generalized themes that will reflect both the corporation's interests as well as the community's.

7. Where do the artists come from who paint the murals?
They come from all over. Many of them are local high school students. Some of them are self-taught. Some, like Reginald Adams, Chuma Okoli and Israel Barbosa, are well known for their mural work. Others are students (like the ones who helped paint "The World Is In Our Hands"), or young people from community centers. Artists come to us by word of mouth, or they've seen a mural we've done and track us down. Some of them come to us from the court system as adjudicated graffiti writers. We have a growing list of artists who are interested in working with us, reflecting every possible artistic style and specialization. We work with about five professionals and 75 student artists a year.

8. How do you ensure that your murals will always be visible?
There is no guarantee that a mural will not disappear behind a piece of new construction, particularly when the mural faces an empty lot or a parking lot, which many of them do. As part of our research into the appropriateness of a wall, we contact the owner of any empty property on which a potential mural may face to determine whether he or she has any plans to build. If there seems to be a clear intention to sell the property or to develop it, we will generally not produce a mural there. In the final analysis, however, there is no way to permanently protect our murals. As outdoor public art, they are subject to the wrath of weather and urban development.

8. How many murals have been vandalized by graffiti?
Because the communities are so involved in the development of the mural, there tends to be a lot of ownership and protection of the mural once it is completed. We have yet to have a mural marred by graffiti out of nearly fifteen. If a mural is no longer cared for by the community, it tends to become a target. Some of our older murals done in the late ninety’s have began to fade, particularly those facing south. Our murals are well received because we make a concentrated effort to involve the community in the development and creation of the murals.

If you have a question that is not answered here, please let us know by sending email to mocaharts@hotmail.com

Your feedback is welcomed and requested.