Clean Slate 2011

I mentioned last Thursday that I would be taking part in Clean Slate by helping paint murals at a school so here's some of the stuff that happened over the weekend...

The school we were working at was Wright Elementary. It's located in midtown and was in dire need of some updating. I am so happy to be part of the amazing group of volunteers that gave their time and talents for 3 days to totally transform the school. My brother-in-law oversaw the entire school project and was so organized and so full of excitement and inspiration and totally made the weekend unforgettable.

Here's a little pic I got of him and the principal talking to the volunteers before the big reveal.

My mom was a project leader in charge of re-doing the office and did an amazing job! I'm telling you folks, we keep it in the family :) Speaking of family, my sister was the photographer at one of the four houses that were renovated and her team did an unbelievable job. Check out her post and watch the slideshow, but make sure you get some tissues!

My part, aside from helping paint murals, was to design a logo for the school, that was my secret project! Here's the final logo.

Wright Elementary was named after Orville Wright so it was fitting that the school had a bunch of little plane replicas throughout the halls. The project leader for the murals drew up 12 different murals for each stairwell relating to flight. The first floor was themed with different flight methods including a hot air balloon, biplane and helicopter. The second floor had murals based on flight in nature including a hummingbird, butterflies and bird. The third floor was all outer space murals.

Here are some shots I got during the weekend...

Along with all the murals in the staircases and throughout the school, the entire cafeteria had a "history of flight" mural that included all forms of flight.

There were also 4 nooks on the first floor by each stairwell for the students to sit and read, create and dream that were full of boxes but were transformed to creative spaces with 3-d elements like a hot air balloon basket to sit in or chairs and desks covered in chalkboard paint to draw in.

I can't remember the exact number but I think there were over 40 murals painted over the weekend.

Not only was renovating going on inside the school, but volunteers also came out and planted a global garden for the students to tend to. The Tulsa Shock (the WNBA team) came out for a bit to help with this project. You know I love gardening so I really loved this part of it all.

I didn't get a before or good after shot of the teacher's lounge but I did get a couple reaction shots. This is when they first walked in. I love all the women with their hands over their mouths!

And when they saw the flat screen tv!

The school was transformed for both the faculty and the students and I'm pretty sure most of the volunteers were transformed as well. Amazing folks, amazing.

Check out the slide show for the school! There are a ton of before/after shots of everything done at the school.