I love public art. I stare in awe every time I see a new piece pop up in Tulsa.
Go to cities like Philadelphia and Detroit, where the governments have funded projects, and you can see amazing installations that stretch for 10-20 stories into the sky. Maybe more. (I smell another future blog post.)
Last night, Masa had a gig at 36th St North and Hartford Ave. All I knew was there were going to be around 100 people there and it would last a couple of hours. Cool.
When we arrived, I learned we were there for the unveiling of the above mural. Awesome right?!
Turns out there is a local non-profit, Disrupt, which organized the project for McLain students. (Psst, their FB page has less than 100 fans, so please go show them some love and like their page. I even linked it for you. Here it is again. Oh, and here is their Instagram account.)
The students spent about 40 hours working on the mural. The Tulsa World shared a great photo gallery of the kids painting the wall this week.
It was awesome to see all the families and friends show up to celebrate the completion of the mural. There was a DJ, a dance performance by young girls, and a ton of photos taken that I'm sure are popping up all over their social media channels.
Everyone was proud of the completed work, as they should be.
It was awesome to witness so many come together over an art project.
While at the event I spoke to Rebekah, who helped organize the event. She works for Teach For America in a role to retain teachers in Tulsa. Disrupt is a passion project.
She is a transplant from Midland, Texas, who has settled in Tulsa and working to make our education system stronger. Not to mention she uses free time to encourage kids to create art. High five to Rebekah!
Hailey, in the yellow, visits with students and another organizer.
In the above picture, a group of students are spending time with their teacher, Hailey. She had just bought them dinner.
When she came back to order more food for the kids, I asked if she was from here. Turns out she too is a transplant, but from Oregon.
I'm always impressed when I meet a teacher, who has moved to Tulsa (or Oklahoma), to teach. We've all seen the news. Terrible pay. Terrible funding.
Yet, there was Hailey, spending her own money to feed her students.
Talk about a gut punch.
The system sucks, but I really admire those, like Hailey, who take it upon themselves to go above and beyond for their students. She and her peers are doing outstanding work that continues to go under appreciated.
One more thing before I close.
The event was in north Tulsa, which sadly is often treated like a different city.
As we served food, people kept thanking us for "coming into their community."
We were told by a handful of people that organizers reached out to many food trucks and all turned them down, but us. I don't know how many rejected them, but it sounds like a lot. I'm sure there are numerous reasons why no other food truck could join us, but from talking to the folks on site, it sounded like they expected to be turned down by everyone and were ecstatic that we agreed to take part.
I'm thrilled we had the opportunity to be a part of the celebration. I met a lot of cool people, who are doing great things for our community.
Last night was another great reminder how art can bring people together and create an even better Tulsa.
Keep up the great work, Disrupt.
