For Immediate Release October 12, 2000 For More Information Contact: Lyn Mettler, (317) 274-7711 lmettler@iupui.edu

HERRON STUDENTS PAINT MURAL FOR COMMUNITY CENTER

INDIANAPOLIS - "There is a light that shines in the darkness and the darkness has never mastered it." John 1:5

That's the message that a local community center hopes to convey through an unusual medium: aerosol art, enough to cover three outside walls of the center.

Herron School of Art students Ben Long and Dan Thompson have been coming at least twice a week for four months to the Caring Place at 22nd and College to complete a job they took on in May. Center directors, pastor Chad Temple and associate pastor Mel Keaton, hired them to spray paint a vibrant mural around the outside of the building.

The Caring Place is an outreach program run by Calvary Temple on Post Road. The center helps feed, clothe and steer area youth away from drugs, gangs and violence. Every Saturday, the center hosts more than 800 children for programs that include games, prizes, singing and preaching.

"We want to be here from the time they're a child until adulthood, to try and break the cycles of hopelessness in this neighborhood," said Keaton.

That is exactly what the center hopes to accomplish in Long and Thompson's mural. The two began by sitting down with many of the youth participating in the program to listen to what they wanted to see. The youth chose vibrant scenes of crime highlighted by images of light. The 4500-square-foot mural includes scenes of a robbery, a man using drugs with an angel above, a field of crosses, a grandmother kneeling to pray and more.

"We want the average observer to see hope," said Keaton.

So far, the community is heartily embracing the mural. Long and Thompson have received numerous compliments from local residents and people are constantly honking as they drive by shouting a word or two of praise.

"People walk by and comment about how real it is and how much what they see on this wall relates to things that they know," said Thompson.

Though Long and Thompson, themselves, may not know what it's like to be in a gang or addicted to drugs, as teens they did belong to an underground group of graffiti artists who illegally painted on bridges and overpasses. But unlike the rest who mostly painted their names, Long and Thompson wanted to paint detailed scenes with themes.

"We were not interested in vandalism," explained Thompson. "We just wanted a place to paint."

The pair, who now call themselves "The FAB (Fantastic Aerosol Brothers) Crew," eventually found lawful places to paint around town. Midtown Music, Sun Rays Tanning Salon, Indy's Best Pizza, Ben Davis High School, American Tent and Awning Company and many homeowners have hired them to paint murals. Though they don't ever plan to make a living at it - all of the money they make goes back to school supplies - they do plan to continue aerosol art as a hobby.

"If it weren't for spray paint, I wouldn't be the painter I am today," said Thompson.

Keaton has seen his share of graffiti as a part-time Lawrence police officer who once lived in Brooklyn. He chose aerosol art for the mural because he feels that graffiti is a medium that our culture understands. "We are taking something that is perceived negatively and turning it into something positive," he said.

And that is his hope for the many passersby who see the mural - to turn negative to positive; to find light in the darkness.

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