While Liz Patteson will have the summer off like the rest of her colleagues here at Avon Central Schools, that doesn’t mean the high school art teacher will be kicking back and taking it easy for the next 10 weeks.
In July, Patteson will serve as an apprentice artist under Ivan Roque, one of nine professional artists or artist teams that Livingston County has commissioned to create nine murals in each of its nine villages as part of its countywide, 2022 Mural Festival.
“Livingston County Economic Development has been planning this for quite some time - I think I first heard about it two years ago,” said Patteson. “I don’t know how many apprentices are assigned to each artist but for the week leading up to the July 9 ceremony, I get to work next to him and help him put his mural on the wall.”
Roque, a Cuban-American artist based in Miami, Fla., will paint his mural on the southernmost exterior wall of 79 Genesee St., which currently houses one of Assemblymember Marjorie Byrnes’s satellite offices.
In an email in May, Roque said he’s excited to come to Avon and paint alongside a fellow artist.
“It's always great to talk ideas with other creatives and like-minded individuals,” said Roque, who based his mural concept on Avon’s history of horse riding and breeding. “I think people are gonna enjoy the subject matter, color and overall movement of the entire piece. When it comes to painting murals, what I look forward to most is the people that I will meet and the local culture of the town that I'm painting.”
Patteson’s hoping she’ll learn more about what it takes to create a mural during the apprenticeship. Should the experience prove instructive, Patteson said she can see herself taking on larger-scale mural projects in the future - perhaps even here at Avon Central Schools.
“Working with him, I’m hoping I can gain the necessary knowledge to hopefully be able to do some mural work on my own in the future,” she said. “In the lunchroom there was a mural there they got rid of and they want to do some updating with art around the school but going large-scale is not something I have any experience with so I’m not comfortable saying ‘Yes’ to any of that yet.”
Roque’s mural will be unveiled during Avon’s Mural Festival July 9. There are other art-centric activities planned for the day that Patteson’s hoping some of her Art Club members will have a chance to participate in as well.
“They want to do sidewalk chalk art, rock painting, face painting and a smaller public mural ‘Paint by number’ kind of thing,” she said.
In July, High School Art Teacher Liz Patteson will help Cuban-American artist Ivan Roque paint a mural inspired by Avon's history of horse riding and breeding on this exterior wall of 79 Genesee Street as part of the Livingston County Mural Festival.