SUNDERLAND — Young residents of Sunderland and its surrounding towns had the chance on Saturday to dabble in a more unusual art form – graffiti.
Seven children age 10 to 17 participated in a graffiti painting class at the Sunderland Public Library. The class was taught by Eamon Gillen, 33, of Worcester, who has been spray painting since he was a teenager.
Gillen feels it is important for children to be exposed to all kinds of art.
“You have more of a chance to see what you like the more you’re exposed to different mediums,” Gillen said.
Many of the participants had never tried spray painting before.
“It’s not a medium you would usually get to work with,” said Grettle Allis, 17, of Conway, who loves drawing, painting and sculpting.
“It’s so different than every other paint,” remarked 11-year-old Maddie Bialek of South Deerfield. “It’s nice to try something new.”
For 12-year-old Lola Russell of Sunderland, it allowed her to see the hard work behind a piece of art.
“I’m always seeing graffiti because I hang out at skate parks,” she said. “It was nice to see how that’s all done.”
The seven participants worked together to paint a colorful plywood mural of trees, hills and a river, with “SUNDERLAND” written in capital letters hovering in the foreground. Each signed his or her name in white when their work was complete.
Megan Russell, youth services librarian at the Sunderland Public Library, organized the event following a suggestion from a library volunteer, who knew Gillen had done a similar program at the Worcester Public Library.
Though Russell was aiming to find events of interest to boys, only one boy attended: Grettle’s 10-year-old brother, Lincoln Allis. Lincoln, his mother Melissa said, has quickly developed a love of spray painting.
“I think he’s seeing it on trains and buildings and it just looks so cool to him,” Melissa Allis said. “They don’t teach graffiti in school. It’s so different.”
Melissa Allis recalls her son spray-painted the American flag on a wooden pallet for Independence Day.
“I think it’s great because it is an art form,” she said.