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Valley Roots Blueprint Implementation
Elody Gyekis, a 2008 fellow from Penn State, is busy implementing her Blueprint for Social Justice! Valley Roots - Approaching a Mural as a Process of Community Engagement is a Blueprint that Elody designed to address the rural decline facing her hometown, Millheim, PA. She is using this creative and collaborative project to create an intergenerational and diverse dialogue among community members and encourage civic participation.
Elody recently welcomed Matt Popek and Arielle Hesse to Milheim. Matt and Arielle rolled up their sleeves and went to work contributing to Elody’s Blueprint.
To find out how YOU can get involved and support the work that Elody is doing (and to check out some more pictures!), join the Millheim Mural Project Summer 2008 group on Facebook.
- Zachary Dryden's blog
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As a first-hand observer,
I'd like to mention that the mural is coming along very well. We honestly did roll up our sleeves; Arielle and I painted the whites and grays in the waterfall near the bottom of the mural. I now have a permanent reminder of my work on the mural (some blue paint on the bottom of my sneakers).
However, the painting is definitely not the only part of the project; when we visited on a Sunday afternoon, there were about ten other members of the community painting with us, discussing their lives and forging new community bonds. The power of this mural lies far beyond what will hang in town; it is also reshaping how those in the community interact with each other. I was honored to take part in bringing Elody's blueprint to life!
To see some pictures from our painting session, check out my online album.