Volunteer painters needed for Teen Art Board mural

ALBANY ─ Work on the downtown Albany mural project led by the Albany Museum of Art Teen Art Board gets underway next week. The high school student leaders behind the project are working to secure the final funds and volunteers needed to complete the project.

“The students have been working on this for most of the school year, and now we are at the final preliminary stages,” AMA Director of Education and Public Programming Annie Vanoteghem said. “They want to do something memorable for the community, a legacy for future generations.”

The design of the mural, which will cover the north wall of the Cookie Shoppe on North Jackson Street, was designed by muralist Ramiro Davaro-Comas, a New York artist who is known for creating public art through the nonprofit organization Super-Stories that he started in 2022 with his partner, Grace Lang. Davaro-Comas, whose work was on exhibition last fall at the Albany Museum of Art, will lead the painting team on the week of May 20.

“Students of all ages have a direct hand in this mural,” Vanoteghem said. “Ramiro created the design from drawings elementary school students from the Albany area submitted, with the majority of the images coming from the drawing workshop the Teen Art Board conducted in January for elementary students. Middle and high school students — as well as adults — can volunteer to help with the painting, which will bring those drawings to life.”

The Teen Art Board members will be the first cohort of teens to produce a large-scale public work in Albany.

“They will have hands-on experience and learn every step of the mural-making process,” Davaro-Comas said. “They will learn image transfer, prepping a wall for a lasting public artwork, painting the mural, permitting, fundraising, and so much more.”

Vanoteghem said community-minded sponsors have been instrumental to the success of the project.

“Perfect Strokes is generously providing the paint and all the other needed art materials,” she said. “Smile Doctors and First Choice Family Chiropractic have provided essential financial support, and the Cookie Shoppe will provide lunch for the painters during the project week.”

Other funding has come from special events the Teen Art Board has conducted, including a Valentine’s Day event during which they watched children so parents could have an evening out and a Dine Out for Art night at an Albany restaurant. Individuals also have been making direct donations.

“The teens still have a little way to go to meet their goal for the mural,” Vanoteghem noted. “Anyone who would like to contribute can do so online. Every dollar donated goes directly to the project.”

The donation link may be found at https://www.albanymuseum.com/downtown-mural-project/.

“That webpage also has a link for volunteers who want to help paint the mural,” Vanoteghem said. “It’s a big project, and Ramiro and our kids will certainly welcome the help!”

It is an opportunity to leave a lasting, positive impression on the Albany community, she said.

“Years from now, when these students are grown-ups with kids of their own, they’ll be able to show their children something they did for their hometown,” Vanoteghem said. “Whether they drew one of the images used, painted part of the wall, worked at one of the fundraisers, or donated money to it, they can say they played an important role in the effort to make their community better through the power of art.”

To learn more about Davaro-Comas, visit his website https://www.ramirostudios.com/ . To learn more about Super-Stories, visit https://www.super-stories.org/.

The Albany Museum of Art is located at 311 Meadowlark Drive, adjacent to Albany State University's West Campus just off Gillionville Road. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is open to the public 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Admission is free.