Lights On Rainbow, Wyoming After School Alliance WYAA, Michelle Sullivan, Kate Foster, WYAA Oct. 2019
conference participants. 12'x52"
Lights On Rainbow Story
Lights On Rainbow mural is inspired by the dedicated mission of our Wyoming After School Alliance WYAA, together with Aboriginal indigenous wisdom and culture.
Aboriginal Wardaman ceremonial wisdom celebrates 3 principal Creators. The Creation Story tells of the lightning marriage of the Sky Father with the Earth Mother, ensuring the Rainbow Serpent will bring the right amount of rain to regenerate all life, all children on our land and keep everything in balance. As Elder Bill Harney teaches, "to bring happiness to the land" and teach us caring.
The essential mission of WYAA and it's "Lights On" program, is to bring quality educational programming to all our after school communities across our vast great state; to inspire, "ignite", "switch on" our children and make a real difference in their lives.
See all this symbolically in our mural.
The dots have multiple meanings, representing all our Wyoming children "switched on" by our quality Lights On programming. Further, it represents the life giving rain drops that ignite, "switch on" life itself, to regenerate our land, our Earth Mother, and all living things, plants, birds, animals, insects, our food and water, our people and our children.
See the beautiful Sun Woman representing WYAA spreading her light charged caring tentacles across the state reaching our communities, "switching on", inspiring the children. See her beautiful red ocher that she paints herself with every sunrise and sunset; reminding us to do our best, each and every day. See her red ocher sunrise powder she spreads across our state representing the blood of our Mother Earth and further the WYAA "enlightenment" education of our children.
See the mountains with the red plains, all representing again our state land, our WYAA community and our Mother Earth.
See the double helix Rainbow Serpent, brother and sister, representing our precious rivers, our Boys & Girls Clubs, our historical trails. Rainbow represents balance; honors inclusion and diversity; reminds us we all are made of water. Historically our present day communities would not exist without Rainbow.
See the Sky Father (black) who is the source of the lightning sparks sent to the Mother to "switch on", create and regenerate the children. See the stars; the campfires of all our Elders, our grandparents, our WYAA teachers with their hand shadows looking down; keeping watch on their grandchildren and students; making sure we are "switching on", paying attention, learning, caring for our land, our water, our communities and each other.
The mural was designed by artist/educator Paul Taylor and painted by WYAA State Conference participants Oct 2019.
