Building Inspiration

The Spoken Word project uses spoken words as a site for identity-making through storytelling that explores moments, events, or people of inspiration. The project is designed to use collective literacy practices to build reading, writing, sharing, and reflecting skills.

The Building Inspiration mural was created by the students of the E3 program located at the OIC building on North Broad Street though the Mural Corps program. The students were led by poet William Wright El to create poems, prose, and free-form writing projects that connected personal messages of inspiration. As lead muralist, artist Brad Carney took aspects of their poetry and conversations in class to create the overall design and concept of the mural. The students posed for pictures that represented emotional states such as
“contemplative or introspective” and action shots of giving or creating to create a flow though out the piece. The puzzle pieces and chess-board-like crossword images create the word INSPIRATION. This concept comes out of the very competitive chess games that the students would play during our break time in class, utilizing everyday actions of the students to create a personal project they could relate to and come together to create. Within the students clothing, you will find words from their poems. These excerpts and overall messages students wanted to convey are woven into the linear drawings of the figures. Words and phrases like “Inspire Me,” “Struggle,” “Overcome,” “Challenge,” and “My Words” can be seen within the pants, shirts, and even arms and legs of most figures. As Carney explains: “I would hope this mural would mean something new to each viewer every time they pass by; seeing something new they might have looked over from afar, only to see the words and introspective meanings up close upon a new arrival.”