Catalina Island News

Catalina Island Museum Hopes to Win an Award for its BIG DRAW LA Project

2016-11-10
Catalina Island Museum

For the first time in its history, the Catalina Island Museum participated in the BIG DRAW LA, a countywide event held every October. The BIG DRAW LA was organized to create participatory opportunities for people of all ages to discover that drawing can help us: look more closely, inspire creative thinking, communicate with others, and have fun in the process.

The Catalina Island Museum is extremely pleased with the turnout and the final result. In fact, the museum is submitting photographs of the final mermaid mural to the BIG DRAW LA in hopes of winning one of the Inspiration Awards given out each year.

Over the course of three days the Catalina Island Museum welcomed visitors of all ages into its Hagenah Family Lobby to lend their creativity and collaborative spirit in a guided drawing experience. Each completed artwork was placed with others to form one large Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) inspired mural with a Catalina twist: a mermaid in skeletal form. The participants ranged from 3 and 4 year olds – including a group from Catalina Kid Ventures and a child’s birthday party – to seniors, and all ages in between. This accumulative community project was then displayed in the museum’s lobby through the full observation of Día de los Muertos.

“My kids love to draw and color so I thought this would be a great event to bring them to,” said Mike Alegria, who was just one of the numerous local families that participated in the event.

Also in celebration of Día de los Muertos, the museum erected an ofrenda in its Hagenah Family Lobby. All members of the community were invited to honor their loved ones by contributing to the ofrenda. The museum plans to grow this celebration into an annual event.