Game Board Mural
A project led by HIP students, and Artist, Art Therapist, Deb Telatovich
Deborah Telatovich, Artist and Art Therapist, who has worked several years with our center explains in depth the process of the “Game Board Mural”. She helped several children of different ages explore their creativity.
“The idea for this mural originated during our Summer Camp in 2019. That summer, the children played a lot of board games, read, and did art about cultural heroes. A board game is like a risky journey that a hero takes to discover new strengths about himself or herself, strengths that the hero enriches the community with upon return from the journey.
On a green-tinted background, a Candyland-like path winds around on the horizon from left to right. The children took it from there. Halfway through the mural, they had the idea of having sticky-backed cardboard gingerbread characters ‘play the game’. A big box with different colors on all sides was made to ’throw the dice’ to move on the colored squares.
As the children drew drawings to fill the game board, many drawings were were enlarged with a projector at the direction of the child artist. Exploring each child’s creative process was the goal, with no judgement, no ‘art policemen’ allowed. “We draw and paint like humans, not like machines” and mistakes are welcome because we can always paint over what we’ve painted. The children were encouraged to take baby steps in expressing themselves and developing their voice in the safe environment of their own images.
This kind of mural-making is an imaginative and attractive alternative to the written word. Particularly for those unable to articulate their experiences, this mural-making strategy seeks to authentically document the children’s lived experiences and their perceptions on their life’s journey. “
