We had our group project this week and it was a success! Our community meeting last month made clear the village wanted something done with the stage in the center of town. The stage is structurally sound and well placed between the mayor’s office and café, but was aesthetically unappealing and underutilized by the village. Our project: “Inspiring the Arts in K...,” we hoped, would inspire individual initiative despite limited financial resources and time, encourage volunteerism, and create awareness among K’s residents of the village’s human and physical resources.
The kindergarten director offered to sketch a mural and volunteers from the village helped paint it on the back of the stage. Painting was completed Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, we hosted a celebration for the grand reopening of the stage. It almost didn’t happen. Our primary performers, the ladies folk singing group, didn’t want to get on stage due to the hot weather. They said they would rather sing just for us in our classroom. Two of the volunteers have Babas in the group. After 20 minutes of cheek kissing and on the spot a cappella renditions of “My Bulgaria,” they agreed to sing three songs. Which was enough, the chocolate was melting and the children’s enthusiasm was waning. The rest of the celebration was flawless. Everyone loved the super sugary cookies and brand-less cola type drinks and was excited to see what we were doing.
The celebration’s turnout was significant, especially for 11:30 on Wednesday and I think everyone who attended, around 100 people, appreciated the project. The artistic interpretation of the EU flag design is a bit of a stretch, but we didn’t see the final touches until the morning of the celebration. Plus, how do you bring that up? There is an actual EU flag hanging from the mayor’s building less than 50 feet away…. Yet the stars on our mural and those on the real flag follow quite different patterns. Anyways, I think our project was a success: we made a tangible improvement to a central landmark through collaboration with local volunteers, provided a forum for the artistic talents of local residents, and held a memorable event that will hopefully set a precedent for future community presentations.
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