Flora and Fauna: A Luminescent Ode to Barelas
Interaction Designer(s):
Alyshia Bustos & Leah Buechley
Conceptual and Artistic Designer(s):
Nanibah Chacon
Student Artists:
Four local high school and middle school artists
Collaborators:
Working Classroom Staff
Flora and Fauna: A Luminescent Ode to Barelas is an interactive mural located at the non-profit organization Working Classroom. This project was created in collaboration with local high school students and a professional muralist, Nanibah Chacon, during the summer of 2022.
We aimed to develop a workflow to help the students participate successfully as co-authors of the mural in artistic and technical domains. This entailed providing clear and specific guidelines that would 1) enable each student to contribute individual elements to a cohesive mural design and 2) enable students to leverage and build on the technical skills they developed in the spring workshop. Nani developed the thematic focus for the mural–orienting the visual theme and a companion set of design activities around local plant life. I defined technical constraints —focusing on interactions based on touch, light, and sound. Due to our intensive workshop schedule, it was critical to pick technical elements students were familiar with from a previous spring workshop.
This project is funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2006524.
