Intro to Mural Painting and Spray Paint with Ramiro Davaro-Comas
Saturday, July 26 from 10am to 4pm
Cost: $200-$350 sliding scale*
Intro to Mural Painting and Spray Paint is an exciting new workshop with artist Ramiro Davaro-Comas! Come learn about the history of mural painting and graffiti and experiment with spray paint through developing your own tag and/or character.
The first part of the workshop will focus on learning about the background and career of artist Ramiro Davaro-Comas and the history of American muralism and graffiti, and introduce students to all aspects of painting murals such as different lifts, how to approach different walls for painting, and a variety of methods to get images onto a wall. Students will then make letters and characters in different graffiti styles by mixing, matching, and evolving, as they see fit, characters from established alphabetic styles. Students will be introduced to the common tools of graffiti art— stencils, spray paint, caps—and examine the work of the artists that have used them. In the afternoon, the class will walk to downtown Northampton and discuss the mural on the back of the R. Michelson Galleries, as well as others in the area. After returning to 33 Hawley, students will work on spray-painting techniques outside, and each complete an original art piece on large 4’x4’ wooden panels.
Wood panels, spray paint, caps, and gloves will be provided. Students should wear clothes that can get messy and are strongly encouraged to bring a painting respirator, an n95 mask, or a face covering.
To register, please email programs@nohoarts.org with your name, address, and phone number. Payment can be made via PayPal here, or by mailing a check made out to NCFA to PO Box 366, Northampton, MA 01061.
*Payments on the upper end of the sliding scale help support our continued commitment to accessibility, including sliding scale models and the NCFA Community Fund.
Ramiro Davaro-Comas is an Argentine/American artist with a background in public art and artist residency management. His passions for painting, storytelling, and community work have pushed him to travel throughout his career, collaborating with artists around the world. Davaro-Comas’ art career began in Northampton and he has been creating in the area since 2009 by showing at local galleries and painting large scale murals. Most notably he painted the Children's Book mural with artist Kim Carlino behind the Michelson galleries, the Ninja Turtles Mural on Center Street, the American Farmland Trust Mural on Short Street and a mural with students at the Leeds Elementary School. He has painted over 300 murals and managed another 150 mural installations for other artists.
Davaro-Comas is currently co-directing Super-Stories, an organization he launched with artist Grace Lang that focuses on arts education and large scale mural projects. Their motto is “If you know something, teach it!” His public art practice with Super-Stories focuses on centering the students and community members in every aspect of the work. He has painted 33 murals in the past 3 years with over 10,000 students, community members and teachers. He is passionate about creating murals that are based on student artwork that he obtains from brainstorming and drawing workshops.
Additionally, Ramiro is consulting on public art projects, painting private commissioned murals, and creating work for gallery exhibitions. When he isn’t making art, Ramiro spends his time building things, skateboarding and raising his son Otis.
Links to Ramiro Davaro-Comas’ work:
https://www.ramirostudios.com/