Legacy Arts and Cultural Heritage
ACHF Arts Access
The major goal of the Senior Center Mural Project is to feature the work of local artist, Scott Gunvaldson, on a mural on the exterior of the Fergus Falls Senior Center. It will cover up a previous mural of ScottÆs done in 2001 which is peeling and faded. His work will be done in collaboration with the International Council on Active AgingÆs ''Changing the Way We Age'' Campaign to depict a positive view of aging and fight stereotypes of decline and diminished value that perpetuate age discrimination in todayÆs society. ScottÆs work will imprint the fact upon his audience that revering one age while reviling another is harmful to society and that we are but a sum of all our parts, and that we need them all. He will also imprint his mastery of painting on the volunteers of all ages that work with him on the mural. In addition to this, another goal is to reach as many people as possible with this mural and its message, hence the exterior location and videotaping by PEG Access Television, and posting on BingTV.com. It is also being done in honor of our 25th anniversary of becoming incorporated.We will measure the Senior Center Mural Project goals by pre- and post-questionnaires of the volunteers who helped paint the mural project. We will compare the two questionnaires by a number instead of a name in case they choose to stay anonymous (still making it optional for them to identify themselves). We will be looking for their experience in the arts and what they learned artistically by working on this project. We will also question them what the mural is ôsayingö by questioning them on their perception of aging prior to and after working and discussing the project as they worked on it. We will also measure its reach by whether or not it catches the attention of the International Council on Active AgingÆs ôChanging the Way We Ageö Campaign and is held up as a model champion project. We will also keep count of the number of ôhitsö and ôlikesö on the video of the project which will be posted on BingTV.com.
The evaluation results were positive from the in-person encounters, comments, and body language of passersby who always seem to notice the mural. Evaluation will be taking place long after this report is due on the Internet and through activities by the I