Mid-week point - Artist Residency at RPA

Since the previous blog post, the first week of my artist residency at Redmond Proficiency Academy is at the mid-point and the mural is starting to form as an image with specific elements. Working with a small core group of students, I've taken them through the following steps since beginning on Monday:
Site Visit - After a brief introduction and overview of the mural project, we visited the site where the completed mural is to be installed. There are actually two sites involved; one is a temporary site in the City of Redmond Centennial Park and the other is the permanent location the mural will be moved to at the end of summer.
Brainstorm Ideas - Group discussion to generate ideas for subjects that may be included in the mural. Follow-up research for source images was begun after the brainstorming session.
Formal Meeting with the "Client" - Students met at City Hall with Economic Development Director and representatives from the RCAPP and the Centennial Committee. A pre-meeting group discussion generated questions the students determined they needed to ask at the meeting. The meeting ended with a visit to the mural installation sites led by the Economic Development Director; additional questions and concerns were discussed at each site.
Formulating the Basic Composition - Students discuss and map out what images go where in the mural. This process will continue through the end of the week.
Creating a Budget - Students create a budget, working with unit prices and then calculating total costs. I also introduce line items that are typical requirements in "real world" proposed budgets and discuss the purpose of each and why it is needed.