Katie Ferrell's Art   

   Community Service &
                                                                                                                   Gainful Employment

 

Katie Ferrell is a Senior at Francis Parker School in San Diego,  where  community service is part of the core curriculum.   In Spring 2006 Katie organized a group of student and adult volunteers for three days of community improvement and beautification in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego.
 
 

That project morphed into a fantastic summer job. 

In the end the community leader who employed Katie had this to say:

“Finding Katie was a real godsend for our neighborhood.  She not only possesses incredible artistic talent but has organizational skills and leadership abilities well beyond her years.  Katie completely understood the spirit of our project and adding her own vision to it, brought to life grass roots community art not just beautifully but on time as promised.”

Leslie Kilpatrick
South Park Action Council
  Broker, Branch Manager
  Willis Allen Real Estate
 


Organizing a project that combined outdoor murals, friends and  community service was Katie's sort of thing.   Katie is President of the Francis Parker Arts Club and has been studying studio art since she was 11.   Many of her  paintings and drawings like this oil on canvas entitled  The Machinery of War are collected in the  Ferrell Family Gallery.  Just click on the link or the picture to travel.  

             
 


The mural project  was sunny,  hot,  awfully messy and a lot of fun.


And dirty and cramped,  working in the midst of bustling neighborhood businesses.
 

 

The community association wanted large-scale geometric designs to spread bright, distinctive outdoor art throughout the neighborhood,  unifying residential and business zones and hopefully building community spirit and unity. 

 

                                           And it worked. 

 




 They were so happy with the artwork  and Katie's organization that they approached her to structure a summer job to purchase the materials and organize work crews to complete 27 additional murals,  starting here:


              

 

   
Here's Katie's project proposal on paper  
     
Total labor budgeted $2500  
Total labor billed $1800  
Total hours

260  

 
Total budget for supplies   $500  
Total cost of supplies   $317  
     
                                
            And here's the work in progress:

 

  
 

                          
                                                                               

                   

 

 The project consumed many gallons of paint, countless paint brushes,   sand paper and  masking tape galore,   plus  copious quantities of water,  orange soda,  Diet Mountain Dew,  ice cream and peanuts  in the hot August weather. 


 

            
And here's how it all turned out.





                                                                                                              





                                         

  

   

                               


What did Katie take away from the Summer?

  “It’s a neat neighborhood and we had a bunch of people stop to talk with us,  telling us how much they appreciated what we were doing.    We even had people leaning out car windows to yell their thanks.   I’m glad we  were able to create something lasting that will brighten people’s days and help create a sense of unity and community pride in South Park.  This is definitely one of the most rewarding projects during my time at Parker.”