On November 3, 2013 we’re gathering to paint a mural with and for the students of Coliseum College Prep Academy (CCPA).  We hope you’ll join us!

About the School: CCPA (www.coliseumcollegeprep.org/ourstory.html) first came to our attention through the work of our family friend Abby Friedman who is their Director of the Family & College Resource Center. CCPA is a public secondary school that opened in 2006 in East Oakland, California with the explicit goal of achieving college preparedness in a student body where the total minority population is 100%, 96% qualify as “economically disadvantaged,” and 90% will be the first in their family to graduate from a four-year college. The stories Abby has shared with us about the CCPA community and the opportunity to engage with some of the staff and students inspired us to approach them about creating a mural together.

About the Mural: Rebuilding Through Art (RAP) (www.rebuildingthruart.com/Murals.html) is a not-for-profit that offers community-based hands-on art-making workshops as an opportunity to bring together participants of all ages and backgrounds in a social activity that results in the creation of vivid, quality public art. One of RAP’s founders, the artist Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen will be working with us on this project. Jay has a long history of promoting social change through the arts as well as extensive involvement in the film industry. Nationally, he is best known for his portrait of President Clinton playing the saxophone and locally, as the creator of the stained glass windows at SF’s Sha’ar Zahav synagogue.

About November 3, 2013: Students from CCPA will have worked with Jay in advance to develop the themes and the imagery for the mural. On November 3rd everyone is invited (all ages and abilities) to paint together. This particular project will be created on “parachute” cloth panels that will be installed directly on one of the walls in the school’s courtyard when they are completed. The use of the panels allows for tremendous flexibility in terms of who can help paint (since they can be painted on any flat surface) and where the painting can be done (it does not need to be done on site). The installation will likely be held in January 2014 with details TBA.

More information about the project and the plans for November 3rd will be posted here in the coming months. In the meantime, Sophia is raising money for the project and donations of any amount will be gratefully accepted.

To contribute to the creation of public art for CCPA please use the link on this page OR make a check out to: Rebuilding Thru Art Project and mail it to Sophia Brodie-Weisberg, 1239 Peralta Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94706.

Thanks for your interest and support!