Guest blogger Lydia Regalado is an arts educator, crafter and blogger who writes about people who gather to make things.

Ugandan artist Fred Mutabi explains the inspiration behind a Talking Mural.

Have you ever heard of a “Talking Mural?” If you’re curious, visit the University of North Texas Art Gallery Saturday morning from 8:30 – 10:30 to participate and learn. A talking mural is a collaborative project between elementary students in Uganda and the United States. This project is set up through the non-profit organization Let Art Talk. Founded by Ugandan print maker Fred Mutabi, Let Art Talk allows communities in opposite parts of the world to collaborate, communicate and create a unique project that speaks to populations here in the United States and Uganda. Critical topics are “discussed” on the murals and then translated into the local language and illustrated. Students from McNair, Pinkerton, Bledsoe, Wilson Ashley and Rogers Elementary Schools in Denton and participants from the South Dallas Cultural Center have created for the Maleku Primary School in Uganda murals around the critical theme “environment.”

Saturday’s event will provide an opportunity for participants to contribute to the completion of Maleku Primary School’s mural, which has been created on bark cloth. Participants will be able to contribute to the completion of the murals, providing that the murals have cleared U.S. customs. There will also be art stations set up, with face painting, recycled paper print making, and a plant station where participants can take home a free plant.

This event will be held at the University of North Texas Art Gallery, 1201 Mulberry St. in Denton. Everyone is welcome to participate. This is a FREE event.
For more information on this project visit: www.barkcloth.blogspot.com

See you there!