Pictured from left, back row: Catherine Dunnet, After-school Center for Education (ACE) Coordinator; Byron Wesley, Dallas Can Oak Cliff student; Stephen Washington, Dallas Can Oak Cliff student; Delia Jasso, Dallas Can Board of Trustees; Mattie Richardson, ACE Director; Patrick Malone, Dallas Can Oak Cliff student; front row: Mario Garcia, ACE Coordinator
Grants from a group of nonprofit agencies unleashed hidden talent among students at four Dallas Can Academy campuses. The grants supported afterschool art enrichment programs offered to Dallas Can Academy students to create murals and work with local artists to learn the art of murals. Student artists worked with their art teachers and professional artists to design and paint large artscapes at their schools last spring and into the summer. The finished murals are painted on the walls of common areas of four Dallas Can Academy campuses as permanent works of art.
The Oak Cliff campus unveiled their mural during Lights On Afterschool Day last week. The unveiling was attended by members of the community, parents, students and Dallas Can Academy administrators. Approximately 40 students participated in the programs at the four campuses. Students from other campuses also celebrated their mural creation by being a part of the unveiling.
The mural program is a collaboration between Texans Can and Afterschool Centers in Education (ACE). The Latino Cultural Center loaned Juan Manual Campos, a muralist from Mexico City, Mexico to work with the students at the Carrollton/Farmers Branch campus. Marquis Washington, a Dallas muralist, provided direction and assistance to the students at the Dallas Ross and Pleasant Grove campuses. Mario Garcia, an experienced local artist, assisted the Oak Cliff campus students. Washington and Garcia both continue to teach art as part of the ACE program in Dallas Can schools.