By WINTER ROSS

A mini-mural by the Vida Day Camp kids is the latest addition to our new library space, brought to you by Localogy. It’s on the dumpster out front in the parking lot, so you can’t miss it! This joyful visual representation of things the youngsters experienced or learned about during their three weeks of camp is just plain fun. A big river, fish, plants, flowers, bugs, waterfalls, thunderstorms, birds, beasts, and rainbows decorate the formerly dull dark green trash container. There’s even an alien or two with a UFO and planets! Next time you’re at the library with your child, make a game of finding all the symbols for Earth, Air, Water, and Fire.

Doing the painting took a lot of help. This is the first mural to be executed in a series of murals for a long-range project conceived by the community as they worked with Questa Economic Development Fund Director Lynn Skall. First, Lynn got permission to paint the dumpster from Waste Management (thank you WM!), permission from the library (thank you, Ms. Sharon), and then hooked up with the summer camp (thank you, Alejandro Avina
and Localogy). Lastly, there was the volunteer artist, me!

As the artist/writer at Ceremonial Visions and Takoja Institute, I coordinated times with the camp administrators. I came up with and executed a design that the campers could easily contribute to; rousted up donations for the materials (primer, paints, tarp, containers, pencils, rags, brushes); put paint to metal and managed drips, directions, sunscreen, and—most importantly—child artistic angst. Luckily, with help from two creative counselors from Vida: Hana O’Brian Ishikawa, and Sasha Elenko, who helped mix paint, inspire ideas, give advice, wipe little fingers, and haul wash water from behind the library, we got it done! Did you know so much work could go into creating a small mural? Wow!
The smiles this dumpster mural gives you are love from the kids of Vida Camp: Bridger, Clara and Cormack, Kingston, Jocelyn and Zachary, Arianna, Kiera, Ysidro, Micah, Josh, Enrique, Estella, and Gigi. We hope you will take the time to enjoy our “Dumpster Diary.” Stay tuned for more chapters as Questa’s Mural Project evolves.

Thank you to our local donors: Misha at Takoja Institute for primer; Toner at Trout Unlimited for paint and unflagging inspiration; Daniel at Sangre de Cristo Youth Ranch for expenses; Ceremonial Visions for design, time, plus odds and ends; and Questa Lumber and Hardware for a generous discount. Most of all: Yay, camper artist kids of Vida Camp! May this effort remind you of our connection and responsibility to Mother Earth.

Campers from Vida Day Camp contribute ideas and paint to the dumpster in front of the Questa Public Library.