A Public Art Building Communities Proposal from Artist Julio Valdez

Takoma Elementary School, 7010 Piney Branch Road NW, Washington DC 20012

Takoma Taking Flight is a proposal to the Commission on the Arts and Humanities in Washington DC for outdoor school building murals. The project consists of five (5) murals of different sizes to be installed at the Takoma Elementary School, located at 7010 Piney Branch Road NW, Washington DC.

The designs for these new murals are based on the outcome of the 4th grade student engagement process undertaken in a previous mural project funded by the Color the Curb School Safety Program and recently installed on the ground across from the school, at the triangular intersection of Piney Branch Rd, Cedar St. NW, and 6th St. NW. The theme for that project was based on the school themes of Falcons and Taking Flight. The set of murals now being proposed will expand on that theme.

Two (2) of the murals will be on the front low wall, school fence, and concrete benches along the Piney Branch road entrance. The other three (3) larger murals are intended for the large exterior back walls of the gym. These are the walls that the school community sees daily when they come in and out of the building, to the left of the school basketball and baseball fields. Since the Takoma Education Campus school is also the home of the Washington Youth Orchestra, the themes of music and sports are integrated, as suggested by community members.

This mural project will be minimally invasive to the existing school structures, as it seeks to transform and beautify the public-facing entrance of the school along Piney Branch Rd, and visually connect to the existing ground murals.

Please sign your name in support of this project, so we can submit this letter with our grant application.

With appreciation,

Julio Valdez, Artist

@juliovaldezstudio

www.juliovaldez.com