Boys & Girls Club mural: A place to grow

We are not the artists or the clients, just the people behind the scenes trying to remove obstacles and make things go as smoothly as possible for all parties. This project is no different, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya and two Drake University art students, Kate Segler and Marissa Hernandez, worked well over a combined 300 hours on this project in just 12 days. They should feel incredibly proud of their work and the end result. We, too, feel proud to be a small part of this project and gift to the Gregory and Suzie Glazer Burt Boys and Girls Club on Drake University’s campus.

Several months ago, Maribeth Romslo, an incredibly talented producer and friend, brought together Amanda and myself to create a project. Maribeth, originally from Des Moines, knew our work and how Des Moines is an incredible arts city. Together, the three of us worked to create this project. We were able to find funding, a wall, and tremendous partners. Maribeth has filmed the creation of the mural and some incredible stories of students from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Iowa. We look forward to seeing the film and promoting her work soon!

A project of this scale happens as the results of many partners and entities. There were several community members who believed in the project and came together to raise the funds, of which we are incredibly appreciative. Dutch Boy paint was an amazing partner throughout the process. The paint looks so beautiful, bright, and vivid. They also helped us with paint brushes and rollers, all of which were essential to the project. I cannot recommend them highly enough. United Rentals donated a boom lift for 2 weeks which the mural could truly not have been painted without. Additionally, last minute to finish the mural Star Equipmentcame and brought a scissor lift to help over the last weekend. This community is incredible. We feel so lucky to live and work in such a supportive city.

Finally, Drake University and the Boys and Girls Club of Central Iowa, are truly wonderful. They believed in our vision for this mural and we could not have asked for better partners. The Weitz group, contractors for this beautiful new building, helped us problem solve along the way and they too were essential to the project and we could not have done it without them.

If it’s not clear, this project was full of collaboration, creativity, hard work and problem solving. We are so appreciative to each party and are thrilled to have this mural right here in Des Moines. This is a city where many come together to make big, BIG things happen.