This year competitors will be using 2′x4′ boards and must bring their own paints or whatever materials they need. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places.

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Stay tuned to the blog at http://emapyouth.wordpress.com/ for more updates!

An unassuming wall that sits beneath the MBTA overpass on the corner of Pleasant and Summer Street in Malden may soon become a work of art.

Last Thursday night, residents of Malden in conjunction with The Art Connection and Youth A.C.T. (Action, Coalition, Trust) held an input meeting at the Malden Senior Center to brainstorm themes and develop a design for an upcoming city project to create a community mural. The New England Foundation for the Arts is funding the program.

“This is another in a series of artistic endeavors that the city and the Office of Mayor Richard C. Howard have supported in recent years,” said Deborah A. Burke, project director for Economic Development for the city of Malden. “The Mayor sees great value in embracing the arts as an economic engine that spurs community revitalization efforts.”

Read more: http://www.wickedlocal.com/malden/homepage/x1365715921/Mural-project-promotes-art-for-all

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Press Release

Gallery at Elm Street
First Parish in Malden and Saugus
Unitarian Universalist
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2009

Gallery at Elm Street presents works
from the Urban Art Competition;
reception for the artists on Oct. 11

The Gallery at Elm Street, located at the First Parish in Malden and Saugus, presents works by 28 youth from last summer’s Urban Art Competition, sponsored by Youth A.C.T. The exhibition is on view on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.; Sundays from noon – 2 p.m.; and by appointment through November. A reception for the young artists is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 11, from 2 – 5 p.m.

Participating youth from Malden are Cristain Martinez, Jacqueline Bouley, Nicolette Timmins, Nathaniel Coulange, Thi Nguyen, Kathleen Knox, Harris Zhao, Jesse Bouley, Grace Cappuccio, Jessica Ma, Anthony Knox, and Jonathan Silva.

Everett youth are Mai Ly Nugyen, Brandon Phan, David Nguyen, Alex Gabrielli, Nguyen Le, Jenny Thang, Betty Ho, Mary Tran, Anna Nguyen, David Zorrilla, and Ghali Armira.
Other participants are Sandy Chan, Boston; Mahima Karki, Arogya Khadka, and David Huang, Somerville; and Stephenson Kim, Medford.

The Urban Art Competition enables local youth artists to come out and express their skills in public. The competition provides the opportunity for artists to showcase their work and to be recognized. The event took place at Lincoln Commons in Malden last July.

Sponsors are Asian Spectrum, Inc.; First Parish in Malden and Saugus; Friends of Oak Grove; Cambridge Health Alliance; Healthy Malden; YWCA, Malden; Kevin Duffy, Malden School Committee; Malden Cable Access Television (MATV); Chinese Culture Connection; American Red Cross of Mass. Bay; and Youth A.C.T.

Youth A.C.T. (action, coalition, trust) is a Malden-based, youth-led organization that addresses public issues through innovative and collaborative approaches. The group celebrates diversity and youth leadership, uniting to promote peace, justice, health, and green space.

The First Parish is a Unitarian Universalist congregation serving Malden, Everett, Saugus and neighboring communities. The church and gallery are located at Elm and Pleasant Streets (Route 60), three blocks west of the Malden Center T station. Convenient, free parking is available between the church and the Beebe Elementary School.

The mural project will also be a work created by youth, but unfortunately this will only be available to youths of Malden. Any youth who is a Malden resident is encouraged to apply for a position on the Community Mural Youth Task Force. No prior artistic experience is required. Applications should be delivered to:

Applications are due by Tuesday 6 PM on October 20, 2009. No e-mails or late pplications will be considered. The application has more information which you can download using the following link.

Download the Malden Mural application form

Jonathan shared that he painted an ‘S’ to represent the first letter of his last name, “Silva”. He created arrows to declare that his family and heritage will live on forever.  He liked the colors he used so hence the choices and the planets around the ‘S’ gives it a mystic feeling as if it’s ‘outer space.’

2nd Place:  Name of Art Work: True Friendship by Maya Hayes and Grace Cappucio of Malden

Maya Hayes and Grace Cappucio originally started out to create a volcano. Soon enough, the art work split into two halves and each took a side.  Maya likes blue and white so she used those colors.  Grace likes brighter and louder colors so she used lots of yellow, red, and oranges. The girls shared that they are best friends but of totally opposite personalities.  But together, they balance each other out and make true friendship.

3rd Place: Name of Art Work: Leaving Emerald City by Nguyen Le (right) of Everett

Most Likely to Be Famous: Name of Art Work: Top of the World  by Mai Le Nguyen (left) of Everett, MA

Nguyen shared that a lot of people go to the city to find their dreams and build goals around it.  The painting depicts a girl who decided to leave the city of yellow brick road (Wizard of Oz) as she found that the city did not bring her what she has hoped for.

Mai painted an illuminated Earth with the city landscape in the background highlighting the urbanization of humanity. On top of the world is the Sun Goddess who is looking down on earth giving it light.  Both the lights from the urban community and the Sun Goddess make earth bright, healthy, and happy.

Most Creative:  Name of Art Work: No name by Jonathan Knox of Malden

Basically, Jonathan painted Jason from Friday the 13th with a hat.  Nothing in particular inspired his work except that he thought it would be interesting to depict Jason with a hat, as a different twist to how Jason is usually portrayed.

Most Inspiring: Name of Art Work: The Splattered by Jesse Bouley of Malden

Jesse started out painting and he soon found that his method was not bringing him satisfaction for his creative process.  Spontaneity motivated him to just throw paint onto his work so he started to splatter the paint and kept at it until he felt his self expression process completed.  It was a liberating and enjoyable process for Jesse.

People’s Choice:  Name of Art Work: Sunset by Jessica Ma of Malden

Jessica likes nature and places that brings her a sense of peace.  She felt inspired to paint the bright orange sunset to express a sense of serenity and inner peace.

More photos will be coming on the site soon. In the meantime, some people have put their photos online on Facebook and others on Flickr.

There will be a list of the winners and their artworks here soon.

Many thanks go to all the organizations and individuals who helped sponsor the event! Friends of Oak Grove, Inc. (FOOGI) provided all the boards and the sound system. The American Red Cross of Massachusetts Bay also came out to support us. Malden Access Television and Asian Spectrum also came out to record our event and interview people. Other sponsors include Healthy Malden, Inc., Cambridge Health Alliance, and Kevin Duffy of the Malden School Committee. Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy and members of ImprovBoston came out to entertain the crowd during the competition.

More thanks to Stacy Gilchrist of Malden Arts who came out to support the event. She has invited some of the artwork to be displayed in the upcoming Window Arts event. Thanks to our judges Kathy Strissel and Sand T who served as our adult judges and Stephanie Tran as a youth judge.

We look forward to our art gallery later this year, and an even better competition next year!

Come join Youth A.C.T. to explore this new art movement on November 22 facilitated by Dr. Young Song, a professor from the Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences at Lesley University. The event will take place at the First Parish in Malden (accessible by the MBTA Orange Line at the Malden Center Stations. This event will also close out our Urban Art Gallery at the Parish. We look forward to seeing you there. RSVP on Facebook and feel free to invite others.

Download our event flyer