Summer Camp Creates Colorful Mural For Baltimore School, Neighborhood
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- There are countless summer camps going on right now, but in east Baltimore, one camp spent the summer working toward the goal of motivating a school and its community.
It's Baltimore's newest school. The inside used to be a blank canvas.
"Well, take a look at it. It's vibrant and bright, it's like a play area," Gwendola Tafiarro of Live the Dream said.
A play area for their minds.
The principal readily agreed to allow a mural to be created during the summer break.
The summer camp is called Live the Dream.
Tafiarro said the mural serves a purpose.
[Reporter: As I look around, how does a mural help everybody live the dream?]
"OK, this is a giveback. This is a giveback to the community, to the school, the school itself," said principal Monique Debi. "So it helps us with our dream because when children pass through here, they find happiness. When staff pass through here, they see that reading is important. When guests come up here, they see that one of the themes of the school is reading."
The artist who created the mural is Breona Erica.
"I want them to feel a little on edge and let me show you maybe it's not as hard as you think it is, and maybe you can create art even when I'm not around," she said.
Over five weeks, Erica let the children make mistakes. She said the kids felt their confidence build as they solved their problems.
You could hear the pride as Christopher Spruill pointed out his work.
"I did that right here, I did that right there. I did that flower right there. You could say I did the butterfly, but I didn't do it for real," he said.
Janellie Munoz just graduated from the school and overcame her shyness to give back.
"If I'm in a bigger group, I will be shy, I won't talk to you, I will avoid eye contact. But I really love these people," she said.
The camp cost $25,000 to produce and was funded by the All Walks of Life Foundation.
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