Steve Gordon: ACES Project
November 1, 2018 – Steve Gordon, an adjunct professor of painting, has designed several
projects in his beginning painting classes in which groups of student work together
to paint murals that depict difficult topics such as the opioid crisis, sexual assault,
and the Syrian refugee crisis.
What is unique about these undertakings is that the students work closely with members
of the community who have been affected by a social crisis in order to bring a greater
understanding of the subject matter to the paintings.
In 2016, Professor Gordon and his students put together a show at Beans Café Homeless
Shelter called “Unseen – Seen”. The exhibition consisted of large scale portraits
of members of Anchorage’s homeless population. The paintings are tender and sensitive
depictions of people who face adverse circumstances on a daily basis with toughness
and resilience.
During this fall, the beginning painting class and artists within the community began
the ACE’s Mural Project which is focused on the correlation between Adverse Childhood
Experiences (ACE's) and addiction. Seven murals where painted, each depicting a recovering
drug addict's life story. Individual artists and teams of artists paired up with
an ACE "guest" and had a conversation about their life. The ACE guests talked about
what happened to them as children, how they got into their addiction, where their
addiction took them, how they found recovery and what they are doing currently to
deal with the stresses of life in a healthy way.
One of the teams who worked with a guest named Tara stated, “Most of us had no experience
with Street Art or making murals of any kind so we were working with unfamiliar tools
while trying to tell a complex and powerful story. We were learning new techniques
and mediums. We began with picking a color palette and a central image and soon found
ourselves standing in front of blank panels, unsure what marks to make first. We opened
our hearts and felt our confidence grow large enough to fill a 6’x10’ panel. We found
courage in Tara’s words and in the miracle of her survival”.
Professor Gordon said, “It is my hope that the murals will shine a light on ACE's
and how childhood trauma can lead to addiction. In addition, I hope to those in currently
living in addiction to find hope that their lives can be different”.
Three of the completed murals are now on display on the second floor in the Fine Arts
Building.
You can read about local artist David Pettibone and his work on the Ace’s Project
at the Anchorage Daily News
https://www.adn.com/opinions/2018/09/02/as-teens-they-faced-the-same-temptations-one-made-it-one-didnt-why/
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