Summer of 2007 For The Slam-Dunk Kids

Facing Diabetes Together

It was summer of 2007, that I was called to produce a mural with the children and families of the summer basketball camp, Slam Dunk for Diabetes.  Emma Villarreal, the mother of one of the older children, Olivia, had recommended me to the Director, Monica Joyce.  Olivia and her sister, Veronica, had worked with me on some large mural projects I directed through After School Matters at Chi-Town Futbol on Throop Street in Chicago.  Upon arriving at one of the afternoon Slam Dunk sessions to meet the director, children, parents, and coaches at De LaSalle High School, I was immediately struck by the loving community spirit.  Diabetes educators and other related personnel were coaching children on the sidelines about proper nutrition and giving them food and drinks appropriate for diabetes following considerable exercise.  People were smiling and hugging each other and giving encouraging words.  The director and coaches beamed with pride at what progress the children were making.  Benny the Bull was making the rounds and shaking hands.  With the up-coming mural in mind, I took several photos of the children playing basketball and sitting with friends and family along the sidelines. 

After this initial visit, I envisioned the mural being a three-dimensional row of children whose facial features are strongly pronounced standing shoulder-to-shoulder in a line with coaches and basketball players behind them.  Being an artist who loves to paint nature, I conceived of an entire three-dimensional border of vines, flowers, butterflies, birds, fruits and vegetables protruding beyond the row of children and protectively surrounding them like a walled garden; hence, the words “The Slam Dunk Kids Facing Diabetes Together” were incorporated into the design.  In the preliminary study there were eight children in the row; in the final mural there are ten, and all are holding basketballs.  Both the preliminary study and the final version portray the director, coaches, and a few children playing basketball behind the line of children.  The many butterflies signify the fragility of the children’s lives and the need to fortify them in all possible ways.

Every minute spent in the working sessions on the mural with the Slam Dunk Kids and their families was pure joy.  I feel that I have many new friends. They all were so easy to work with and very eager to do whatever task was assigned!  In the first session we literally began with a blank white slab of 48”x80” plywood fortified by a bracing made with 1” x 2” furring strips.  Coach Ed and his fiancée helped to prime the canvas.  While I labored to cut out the organic border with the jigsaw, the children, their siblings and parents drew and cut out shapes of various imagery using x-acto knives, scissors and museum board.  Subsequent sessions involved more cutting, gluing with various adhesives, painting, and covering painted areas with oriental papers to produce a uniform textural surface.  Discovering different people’s strong points was a lot of fun, especially seeing the satisfaction in their faces.  During the work sessions it was touching to witness the families sharing ways that they cope with their children’s diabetes. They shared diet plans, pertinent medical information and ways their life styles changed after finding out that their children had these special needs.  In addition to producing a work of art together this type of sharing was what made the mural itself so special – a true labor of love and solidarity. 

Anne Farley Gaines

The mural can be seen on our News page and replicas are available which you may purchase for your very own.