*This panel page is in progress. See more on the SECTION SIX page*
SECTION SIX
This panel portrays the values and people that can lead us to a positive future.
Children are the future and they are numerous here! This double-wide panel is a mini-mural in its own right, with 44 portraits.
It also contains a housing development, intelligent insects and the network of communication that runs through healthy soil. Let’s start at the top, with universal values that nourish a healthy community:
- equality
- tradition
- vision
- honesty
- compassion
- respect
- peace
- freedom
The sun circle was traced around the lid of a paint gallon.
The sun is shown setting over the Pacific Ocean to the west, which though miles from Ukiah has always exerted a strong influence on the region, from weather to salmon, from trade to tourism.
Majestic redwoods are icons of the Mendocino coast with valley mist flowing east along rivers and low areas, allowing inland redwood groves to thrive. The Russian River flows through Ukiah gaining in breadth all the way to the Pacific at Jenner. Salmon swim upstream to spawn, appearing under the log of a fallen giant, representing a healthy ecosystem:
Who are these children walking carefully across the creek on that log?
Subject matter can be:
- generic (I could make them up)
- or random (I could google “five kids on a log”)
- or specific and meaningful. That’s what I choose!
Specific and Meaningful
Laura Fogg is a local fabric artist who was a driving force behind this project. Plus she let me stay in her house the first two years of painting! These are her grandchildren Ash, Sonja, AJ, Orion, and Lucca, wearing tie-dyed shirts and skirts they created themselves. (See my source photo on the right.)
They represent harmony with nature (salmon are swimming right under them) and cooperation, looking out for each other as they cross the slippery log.
That log links the forest with the town, which must be done in a sustainable way if we are to have a healthy future. Look at the boy sitting near the roots of the tree. His name is Valentino and he holds a blueprint to sustainable development.
I became friends with Valentino and his father Sean “Beau” DeVito during my years of work on the mural. Valentino loves maps and will pick a street to explore on paper and then in real life with his dad. He modeled as the young architect/builder/visionary.
I wanted to paint the housing we need (throughout California!) but how? My background as Point Arena City Council member and Mayor helped. Then a visit to the architectural firm Ruff + Associates and a brainstorm session with my son Adrian inspired me to develop a three-part vision:
- Hillside Solar Houses
- Circle Village
- Standley Street, an example of old and new
Look first at the houses on the hill.
Hillside Solar Houses are small, efficient, affordable 2-story homes with a single-pitch roof slanted up to receive passive solar sun and a one-story extension in front with its roof slanted down at the perfect angle for solar panels. Imagine all of that natural light and free solar heat streaming into your front picture windows during winter. The length of the roof’s overhang prevents too much sun shining in during the summer months when it is higher in the sky. Clerestory windows just under the roof line open to allow hot air inside to rise and escape. There is access on the second floor to a little balcony the width of the house, from which you can easily clean your windows and the solar panels below. The solar panel roof extends to the east creating a carport. A rain catchment system feeds into a container behind the house.
Circle Village is a housing development with 6 circular blocks, each having twelve homes arranged in a ring, facing inward. The streets are connecting circles, with short driveways leading to the back of the house and garage.
The front of these homes would have large windows and open onto a common area. Kids could burst out of their front doors onto an expanse of green, rather than into the street and passing cars. The zones between the rings would have a baseball diamond and play ground. On the perimeter are a community garden, neighborhood grocery store, cafe, pizza place, restaurant and small shops.
The 100 block of W. Standley Street in Ukiah is not imaginary. It showcases the principle of preserving and maintaining historic buildings when possible while integrating new construction that is efficient and well-built. That principle is gloriously illustrated by the Ruff & Associates architectural office located between older structures. Astonishingly, it is 4 stories tall and measures just 13 feet wide!
One day while I was painting, the Conference Center hosted an architectural seminar and Richard Ruff and his associate Rob Fox were in attendance, seen here with a colleague.
They came out to see what I had come up with after visiting their superbly designed building on Standley Street. I am happy to say, Richard gave a thumbs up!
Before we get back to all the people, let me show you a few process shots.
What’s Phil doing?
I had cut my oval patterns for Circle Village out of the Co-op Beet magazine, which happened to have the perfect image of a foreshortened pizza on the cover.
The pre-cut patterns just need to be traced on the wall
String extended from the vanishing point of the perspective creates the diagonal lines of the architecture. Now let’s get back to all the people who populate the panel!
The next group of kids are people interwoven over space and time.
Page under construction. It will be finished this week! See more on SECTION SIX