Sounds and Dreams
Location Note: This mural is located in an interior courtyard that is not publicly accessible.
Sounds and Dreams was inspired by the words, writings, spoken word, hip hop, drawings, and conversations with students at the E3 Center and by the location of the mural itself. Located in a backyard space that was overgrown and underutilized, the wall started out, as artist Miriam Singer described it, “looking like a ruin.” Singer started with some E3 students testing out spray paint stencils and wheat pastes on the wall the summer before while working on another mural, “Take Me to the River,” because the wall was previously designated as not in good enough condition for a mural.
In her artist’s statement, Miriam Singer noted: “I really liked the wall from the beginning . . . I saw an opportunity for a different kind of mural. When the spoken word project came up, it was a perfect opportunity to have an interesting outdoor wall right in the E3 Center.”
The result is a collage of colors, words, and shapes that brighten this backyard that is now beautiful with picnic tables, umbrellas, flowers, and plants. The yard itself has been transformed into a play space for the children from the daycare next door. E3 students are also encouraged to take their lunch breaks there. Singer describes it: “It is a mural where the viewer can piece words and shapes together. It mirrors a collective stream of conscious. Young daycare children like to point out and yell out the names of every color in the mural. The students who worked on this also had to take charge and make decisions about color and placement, as well as design changes. They had to problem-solve as well as learn how to focus on painting and drawing. It was a true collaboration from the beginning to the completion of the mural.”
Location Note: This mural is inside a school building, and therefore not accessible for public viewing.