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Spray the Love Community Mural projects

OUR MISSION

Everyone knows what Love is. Love comes in different forms. Sometimes we need to be reminded to Love, whether it be to Love ourselves or to Love others. Spray the Love is a series of community art projects delivering the reminding message that despite the hate and hurt in the world, there is still Love. The projects create public art by and for the community, where every participant’s contribution builds upon the next, ultimately constructing one large message of “LOVE”. . .

The original fence was created the Summer of 2016. We needed to heal and share with our community that was suffering from a series of high school suicides. (Scroll further down to see all of the great photos of our originating event.)
Since 2016 we have held seven Spray the Love Events and that number is growing!

May 10th, 2018 students at Aspen Valley High School and Middle School come together and create a Spray the Love Project

In April 2018, the staff of Frontier Elementary painted a fence that was photographed and printed into a banner thanks to Skate City. The banner was then delivered to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

October 12th, 2017 Antelope Trails Elementary students and staff paint their classroom portables

In August 2017 we were asked to share our story with all of Academy School District 20's Administration, where our school leaders got their hands dirty and Sprayed the Love on panels that now decorate their main office at 1110 Chapel Hills Drive, Colorado Springs.

Principals, assistant principals and staff joined in to Spray the Love throughout our school district.

Our Spray the Love piano at Discovery Canyon Campus High School was one of several painted pianos as part of the Pianos in the Plaza campaign for the school, continuing the belief that creativity in all forms heals.

September 2016 along with about 1,000 participants, we created a second fence at the What If Festival that celebrates creativity in our community in downtown Colorado Springs.

JOIN OUR MOVEMENT

These do not have to be the only Spray the Love art projects! When it comes to the places a Spray the Love event can be held, the possibilities are endless. If you would like to hold your own Spray the Love event, please click the "Get in touch with us" button above and shoot us an email! We would be honored if you would continue adding to our movement.

The fence remained as a community landmark for over a year, but due to the harsh Colorado winters, and the age of the fence, we needed to find a safe home for it. The administration at Discovery Canyon High School, especially from Mr. King has been amazing. Their unwavering commitment to the students and families of our community are to be commended as the best possible.

July 25th our fence found a new home. The front portion of the fence was permanently installed at Discovery Canyon High School. We kept some panels that are still in our yard, and have given others to family and friends vital to the success of our Spray the Love events.

We have kept some for the inside of our yard.
Newly relocated panels

The fence will live on, protected and constantly reminding the students of the Discovery Canyon Campus that they are LOVED.

THANK YOU!

Thank you Ace Hardware for your fantastic support and for providing all of our paint supplies. Thank you to the gracious people at Higher Grounds Fencing, here in Colorado Springs, who donated almost 100 feet of fence for our event at the 2016 What If Festival in downtown Colorado Springs! Photos to come soon.

Thank you to the 300+ family, friends, strangers, neighbors, visitors, and pets that joined us July 4th, 5th, and 6th on the corner of Struthers Road and Falcons Nest Loop to #SpraytheLoveCO - We had toddlers to teenagers, sixth graders to senior citizens, men and women of all backgrounds and beliefs from across the United States, stop and spray paint flowers of love on our fence as a visual reminder that despite the hurt and hate in the world, we all can still find Love.

Special thanks to the many people that donated drinks, ice cream, cupcakes, donuts, and sandwiches to our crew. That sign of loved kept us fueled the three non-stop days.

The original "Spray the Love" Fence end of the 3rd day

The message is clear, and since we started this project the current events have magnified our message even more. We need to Love one another. We need to Love ourselves. We need to remember that despite all of the darkness in the world, whether it be within our borders or within our bedroom walls, WE ARE LOVED.

Since we finished, we have many more people visiting and taking photos of our fence. We encourage you to visit and do the same. Share it with the world. We would love to see them shared everywhere! Keep this message alive, and please show us through Instagram and Twitter through our #SpraytheLoveCO hashtag and @SpraytheLoveCO usernames.

NEWS STORIES & ARTICLES

We had the local TV station, KOAA interview and broadcast from our yard.

The Tri-Lake Tribune and Colorado Springs Gazette newspapers also wrote articles about our message.

DAY ONE: July 4, 2016

Family, friends, neighbors, and strangers all came out and helped to Spray the Love on our 4th of July!

DAY TWO: July 5, 2016

DAY THREE: JULY 6, 2016

Getting Ready

There was a wide variety of tools used to make this project work. We have documented all that took for us to complete these projects here.

Donated paint, stencils, and signs are ready to start on Monday! Also, we will be giving commemorative stickers to all participants until we run out! Come get yours. Thanks to @stickermule for great sticker and delivery service!

Please "Spray the Love" and the word to all of your friends and family on Instagram, and Twitter (follow us for all of our updates too @SpraytheLoveCO on each). Then, come take a few minutes this holiday weekend to contribute your talents (we will have stencils so it will be easy and fun) and "Spray the Love".

Special thanks to Ace Hardware Circle and Stetson Hills locations in Colorado Springs, Colorado for donating all of our paints. They are fantastic people and they have all your hardware needs.

Not in Colorado Springs?

That doesn't mean you can't "Spray the Love". We encourage everyone, everywhere that may be disheartened, saddened, or feel that there is no hope left in the world to look around you and find anything that reminds you of the greatness of life and love. Take a picture, write the words, hug your loved-ones, and help remind others to #SpraytheLoveCO.

“Why Are You Doing This?”

El Paso county, where we currently live has the highest rate of teenage suicides in the nation. Colorado Springs and Denver are two cities in the “top 15” for highest rates of suicide for all ages.

We aren’t alone and unfortunately, some of my most loved friends and family live in the other areas also on that list including Mesa, Phoenix, and Tucson, Arizona; Sacramento, California; Oklahoma; Florida; and Las Vegas, Nevada tops the list.

Our Veterans are fighting battles for America and coming home and committing suicide.

Our “Spray the Love” campaign and community art project grows from the sadness and helplessness we have for the loss of five amazing high school classmates at Emma’s school just in the past six months.

We are discovering that every high school in this area has seen at least one this past year.

With so much hurt and hate in the world, we are choosing LOVE. We invite you to join our mission and #SpraytheLoveCO - Make good. When you see goodness and love or something that reminds you of your loves, please photograph it and tag us or use our hashtag in this post. Thank you!

If you or someone you love needs help, here are some resources you can go to:

Pikes Peak United Way 211 connects families and individuals to social and community resources best suited to meet their need. Simply dial 211

Mayfield Counseling and Alpine Connection Counseling have been aware of our recent tragedies and have responded with great concern to support many DCC students.

Second Wind Foundation (303-988-2645) Second Wind Fund offers treatment services to at-risk children and youth.

Crisis Text Line students can text “START” to 741-741 to initiate support from a trained counselor 24/7.

Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Travis Gudenrath (719-482-4160) has reached out to the DCC community.

Colorado Crisis Services 1-844-493-8255 Provide confidential help for any mental health, substance abuse, or emotional crisis.

Peak View Behavioral Health Local behavioral health hospital. A good contact if a student is in need of further evaluation.

Safe2Tell Anonymous reporting system answered 24/7 by an emergency call center that can help dispatch emergency responders. Also informs the school administration.

Created By
THE HOUSE OF WEIEN
Appreciate

Credits:

The House of Weien