Art Student’s Two-Day Mural Painting Project Set July 26-27 in Orono
July 25, 2011
Ryan “Goo” Guerrero, an M.F.A student in Intermedia with a B.A. in Studio Art, will conduct a two-part, two-day live mural-painting project in downtown Orono and on campus Tuesday and Wednesday, July 26-27, as part of his graduate thesis.
Guerrero, from Utica, N.Y., will spray-paint the murals with a Maine theme on four plywood panels forming a 16-foot-wide by 8-foot-tall canvas. Locations for the mural project will be at the corner of The Verve and Dr. Records on Mill Street in Orono on Tuesday and on the UMaine campus on the Mall near Lord Hall Wednesday.
When complete, two side panels will have a landscaping-scenic setting depicting Mill Street, the Stillwater River and a campus view of the Mall, which are to be painted at the Verve location. Two center panels will have a graffiti lettering of “Maine,” with a black bear, and will be painted on campus. All of the panels will be joined together at the campus site, according to Guerrero, principal of “Goo’s Kustom Airbrushin’,” Maker Photography and an Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity member.
Guerrero plans to paint in Orono village Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. or 2 p.m., and on campus Wednesday from 8 a.m. until the work is complete. Inclement weather could extend the project into Thursday or Friday, he says.
“The audience can expect to see how graffiti/street art can be used in a positive way within a community as well as educating others who are unfamiliar with the art form, showing that it can help beautify the area and its surroundings,” Guerrero says. “Plus, it’s interesting to have conversations with people that would stop and ask questions about what I was painting or give compliments. It makes people’s minds curious as to what I’m painting, and there’s the enjoyment of seeing someone finish the piece, especially when you watch it from start to end.”
Upon completion Wednesday, Guerrero will connect all four panels.
“Throughout this, I would like to show people that there’s a whole process to this type of painting, say Guerrero. “The main focus of this project is community engagement with the public and the affects of graffiti street art used in a positive way within a community.”
Guerrero’s work will be up for an hour or two after completion, then taken down later on Wednesday. He intends to donate the four-panel mural for display in a garage, home, office or restaurant.
Guerrero has painted murals for art shows, but never a live painting session and engagement with the public. The project will offer a different view of graffiti that many people are unaware of, he says.
Guerrero studies under the supervision of art professor Owen Smith.
Contact: Ryan Guerrero, (207) 659-5001; George Manlove, (207) 581-3756