This year Telstar High School started a new Mural Club, with teacher Melissa Prescott as an advisor. The group met weekly, and video conferenced several times with world-renowned artist Lady Pink, who helped them refine and organize their ideas into one composition for a wall in the school cafeteria.

“The students began the design process by brainstorming ideas for a theme,” said Prescott. “After generating many ideas, they decided to focus on encouraging empathy through the sharing of personal stories. Each mural student designed a section of the mural to share their own story, and and we worked with Lady Pink to bring all the designs together into one composition.”

This past weekend, Lady Pink came to the school and made a presentation to the student body and helped the club paint the design. They projected it on the wall Friday afternoon and traced the outlines, and then painted throughout the weekend. “My students and I will never forget this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Prescott. “Special thanks also goes to the Telstar College Access Team, GEAR Up, MELMAC, and The Martin Wong Foundation.”

The following information on Lady Pink is provided on her website: She was born in Ecuador but raised in New York City. In 1979 she started writing graffiti and soon was well known as the only female capable of competing with the boys in the graffiti subculture. She painted subway trains from the years 1979-1985. In 1982 she had a starring role the motion picture “Wild Style.” That role and her other significant contributions to graffiti have made her a cult figure in the hip-hop subculture.

While still in high school she was already exhibiting paintings in art galleries, and at the age of 21 had her first solo show at the Moore College of Art. As a leading participant in the rise of graffiti-based art, Lady Pink’s canvases have entered important art collections such as those of the Whitney Museum, the MET in NYC, the Brooklyn Museum and the Groninger Museum in Holland. She has established herself in the fine arts world, and her paintings are highly prized by collectors.

Today, Lady Pink continues to create new paintings on canvas that express her unique personal vision. She also shares her 30 years of experience with teens by holding mural workshops and actively lecturing to college students throughout the world.