VA: Meeting Angel from the 42nd Street Mural Project and the creation of Ralph the Rosedalian

Mo and I met with Angel Dew, who is the creative mind behind Rosedale's 42nd Street Mural Project, this past Wednesday (10/13). Mo and I felt that she was a great person to get in contact with for our project about addressing Rosedale's distinct boundaries and community pride issue. Angel lives in Rosedale, and is an active supporter for gaining help for her community. She worked with schools in the Rosedale community and also the got some funding to start the project. About halfway through the project, the funding was pulled and the mural was unfinished. Still today, there are open canvas's ready to be filled. She said spaces are available for any artists, however, it's all volunteer based and artists have to provide their own paint as well as get their mural approved by Wendy Wilson.

After presenting our ideas and prototypes to Angel, we could tell she was excited. She was a great source as far as helping us improve our efforts of effective prototyping. She thinks we should attack multiple banners off Rainbow Blvd, to create a higher impact for drivers coming from both directions. With the fire hydrants, she agrees that it's a great way to easily create a sense of place. Again, I think multiple installations of this would be effective. And finally, most of her excitement came from the idea of guerilla stenciling engaging and interactive messages. We're going to stencil "We _______ Rosedale." and fill in some blanks as well as leave some blank with pieces of chalk nearby. We want to know what the Rosedale community thinks.

Angel strongly pushed the idea of gaining help from KU MED. They are the biggest influence in the area, and she said are most likely the ones able to help fund and support the surrounding community. Angel also gave us some other resourceful people to get in contact with from KU MED, the Community Outreach Program, the Latino Medical Association, the Kansas City Arts Center, and the Kansas City Star. Angel also said she would help us with some stenciling action. She's really excited and wants to be involved, which is AWESOME!

RALPH THE ROSEDALIAN
At 12:30am Thursday morning, Ralph the Rosedalian was brought to life. Located right off 43rd Street across from Frank Rushton Elementary, Ralph stands with his eyes wide open, and his bow tie straight, saying "Hello!" to Rosedale and passing commuters. I followed up around noon that day and Ralph was still intact greeting me as I went to take his picture. More feedback to come on how Ralph interacts with his community.