The Winters Participation Gallery recently took members of the Yolo Community Foundation’s (YCF) Buck Education Grant committee on a tour to see the three local murals around town to learn about the inspiration and process behind them. Jessica Hubbard, YCF Executive Director, said the Participation Gallery received one of the Buck Education Grants that provided them with the funding to execute the most recent mural on the side of the Winters Laundryworks building in downtown. The grants are awarded annually to foster philanthropy and philanthropic leadership in Yolo County by providing funding to support new or existing education efforts (spanning a two- to three-year project timeline) in Yolo County. The YFC Buck Education Grant committee is currently undergoing it’s third annual review of applications in order to select the next round of grant honorees. Winters History Mural artists and instructors joined alongside the tour to help share information and details about the projects. Valerie Whitworth, part of the Participation Gallery’s team, said the murals bring Winters history to both community members who are new to town and for those who already live here. Much care, consideration and research goes into the creation of each mural. Artists (local youth and adults) work side-by-side to learn about the history of Winters as they look through historical photos, documents and stories from residents. From there the artists select symbols to tell a story about Winters history and bring it to life through the mural. The Participation Gallery looks to support emerging artists and pair them with professionals to model how art can lead to a profession and experience the process first hand. The experience gives them an opportunity to gain skills, learn how to interact with clients and team members as well as about how the process works in itself. The last two installments artists were paired with Winters muralist, Jaime Montiel. “We wanted them to learn how they could do this as a profession,” said Whitworth. The first mural was created by five Winters High School seniors on the back of the Anytime Fitness building on Newt’s Expressway. The second was created on the side of Lorenzo’s Market in the fall of 2018, and the most recent installment on the Winters Laundryworks was completed over the summer of 2019. See photos of the process and more community-participation art projects on https://www.facebook.com/WintersParticipationGallery/. Learn more about the Winters Participation Gallery or donate online at https://www.wintersparticipationgallery.org.]]>
