When: Saturday May 18th, 2013 6am -1pm
Where: Corner of 27th St and 5th Ave in South Tucson
Girl Scout Troop 645 will be helping to paint a mural dedicated to the City of South Tucson on Saturday in their efforts to combat graffiti in South Tucson while providing an example of street art that can enhance the community. The project will begin at 6am and continue until early afternoon on the same day that the city will be observing the 20th annual memorial to the life of John Valenzual, who was the first office to die in the line of duty in South Tucson. The wall will incorporate his service to the community. The girls have chosen to do this as part of their Bronze Award which is the highest award 4th and 5th graders can earn.
The girls have been busy the last few months in the community working towards this goal. They have done research on how street art is a great deterrent to taggers, as well as creating an nice environment that encourages people to get outside and walk and exercise in their community. They then shared this information with the community at a local health fair. At this fair the girls also conducted surveys of the community as to what they would like to see and where in South Tucson. The community was very positive in it’s responsive that they would like to see more street art in South Tucson, and many locations were suggested. The next step was finding a location, which after meetings with South Tucson city government officials, a wall was identified for their mural.
Local artist Germaine Pesquiera has volunteered his time to help the girls with this project and create a mural depicting the South Tucson community which will proudly showcase the best of South Tucson. We hope that this will create a further sense of pride in the community, and at the same time be an example of how aerosol art can be expressed in a positive way that enhances the community.
Funding for this project was made possible through community partnerships with the South Tucson Police department and Williamson’s heating and cooling.
Girl Scouts is an organization which provides Girls with all the skills they need to be great leaders now and in the future. Through their experiences the girls gain in Courage, Confidence and Character, while making the world a better place. The girls came up with this idea and have worked very hard to make it a reality.
Contact: Pilar Ruiz, 358-2853, pilara1@attg.net
