Punta Allen Mural Painting Process
January, 1999
A group of artists, teachers and students working with Sian Ka'an Artista designed and painted
a mural in the village of Punta Allen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. This
group was invited by residents of Punta Allen to paint a mural
on the front of a multi-purpose community center. Their wish was
for a mural which would reflect their Mayan heritage and the activities
of their village.
The process started with a trip to Punta
Allen to see the village and take a look at the building.
This is what it looked like before we started. This thumnail may
be clicked, as may all the other photos on this page, to see more
detail.
Work started with reading, discussion and drawing images which
would reflect the heritage and activities to be included in the
mural. This took place at the studio and main building at Sian
Ka'an Artista under the direction of Marcello Jimenez, Director
of the Ministry of Culture, Quintana Roo; Judith Nahill from the
Art Department at Columbia College; and Anna Woods of Sian Ka'an
Artista. Once the artists had some ideas, they began to work together
painting a model of the mural. 
The group then went back to town to start cleaning the building.
Our "scaffolding" consisted of two 55 gallon drums with
a board balanced between them: 
Work continued on the model, with discussions and painting
going on into the night.
Once the model was complete and the surface primed, artists
assigned to various sections of the mural started sketching 
on
the community center itself.
Up until this point we had not had much contact with the people
of Punta Allen. We had met the mayor and knew of the village's
desire for the mural through her and through Anna Woods. Once
the painting started, this changed. A young man of the community
joined us and started working on his ideas on one section of the
wall: 
Then we started attracting spectators. Some drove by, but cars
and trucks are in short supply in Punta Allen, so we were visited
by many people walking or bicycling by. 
Most significantly and most
enjoyably, we were joined by many children, some with their mothers
or other family members. 
One of the Mayan traditions which we wanted to incorporate into
the mural was the use of handprints. The children were especially
happy to contribute to the process in that way. 
Here they are busy at work
doing just that. They added more than that, however, with a small
mural of their own at one side of the building: 
As the painting neared completion, Marcello added an inscription
at the top of the building:
This identified the name and function of the building.
Once we were done, the Mayor treated us to a wonderful lunch in
the front room of the community center which we had just decorated:
For views of the completed mural, and details of the work,
click here: 