Larger Than Life

As a teaching artist for more than 25 years and a muralist for 18 of them, I consider myself to be a good source of "archived" experiences that I can share with others, who might find them beneficial. Like all of life's experiences, some of my anecdotal encounters might come off as amusing or, conversely, fraught with emotional turmoil. Kong Ho's inclusive and impressive study into community murals and the role of teaching artist can be divided into two parts. In the first part, the reader is introduced to the founding history and early community mural projects of Hong Kong Mural Society, a non-profit making art organization, co-founded by Kong Ho in Hong Kong in 1997. Later he guides the reader through several amazing mural projects to connect people's creative minds, which he had directed at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford and its surrounding communities. The second half of this book presents the impact of community mural on community in terms of educational, social, cultural, historical and technological contexts through his Fulbright Scholarship in teaching mural painting in Bulgaria and his community mural projects in Brunei Darussalam. Ho's insights into the role of teaching artists and muralists is not only unique, but are also explored as an academic artistic research. "My reflection on the role of the teaching artist and muralist is mainly about building connections between teachers and learners; a lead muralist and participants. I believe that murals help to create a larger than life experience, which connects individual dreams to form a work of art."