At the end of October and the beginning of November, Philly-based artist Tim Gibson rallied Garfield Elementary School students, teachers, and staff to transform a barren wall into a garden of painted flowers.
Gibson, a lifelong artist who founded the “Ten Thousand Flowers Project, worked with the school for close to two weeks to create a mesmerizing mural at the Garfield.
Gibson said his vision is to bring communities together to create one giant mural stretching over a mile long, filled with ten thousand colorful flowers. However, the project is even more unique in that the massive mural is split into hundreds of interconnecting parts. The murals will be in over one hundred communities across the US, from Florida to Alaska.
"It's like a giant jigsaw puzzle," said Gibson.
Gibson seeks out students and staff, local volunteers, and other artists in each community that decides to host one of his murals.
Gibson explained how his vision has come to life here in Revere and several states across the country. After Gibson finds a suitable wall and completes some prepping, he and volunteers sketch out the design and he guides the team to fill in the colors.
Finally, Gibson follows behind, outlining the flowers, filling in special details, and touching up where needed. As a result, the community creates a beautiful, bold, and colorful work of art for the community.
According to Gibson, the artwork is intentionally simplistic, allowing anyone—the artistically inclined and the not so artistically inclined—to participate in the creation of the mural.
Gibson jokes, “If you can handle a coloring book, you are qualified to join the team.” Gibson’s artistic vision is creating a sense of community across the country as students, teachers, families and neighbors work together and assist to create a beautiful piece of artwork.
“Everyone will share paintbrushes and laughter as they proudly create their local piece of something amazing,” he said.
Garfield Principal Dr. Percy Napier said the project at his school was incredible and thanked the school’s art teacher, Danielle O’Connell, for recruiting Gibson and getting support from Revere Cultural Council through a Mass Cultural Council grant.
“This was an incredible project,” said Napier. “Ms. O'Connell, our art teacher, is a remarkable educator who had the vision to not only bring this project to our school but also to ensure that all members of our school community had the opportunity to participate in the creation of this mural. Hundreds of our students contributed to painting portions of the mural. This artwork will last for many years, serving as a testament to our community coming together for a common purpose: to beautify our school and to exemplify the values of collaboration and creativity. We are immensely grateful to Tim Gibson and Ms. O'Connell for making this project a reality.”
See more photos here.