The Soultown! Volume III: Issue 7 JULY 2019 | Page 26

THE SOULTOWN
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nents, including:
• Mobile Mural (a proprietary mural structure that can
be folded, transported, and unfolded), *Check Mate
(life skills through chess)
• Poetic Justice (spoken-word, storytelling, and pub-
lic speaking)
• Self-Made (entrepreneurship and maker-space)
• The Arts of Life (life-skills through art, writing, and
discussion)
• Self-Mastery (martial arts and mindfulness)
• The Lens (journalism and photography)
• New Urban Drum Culture and Positive Aerosol re-
main as the most popular and requested programs,
for obvious reasons.
Positive Aerosol is the urban art program. It was
inspired by an artist from San Jose. As Gonzalez
studied the art, the artist explained how stencils and
spray-paint were used for creation. Several months
later, he created his first Bob Marley stencil-art on
a wooden board. He shared his creation with his
students. Once again, the youth instantly gravitated
towards the art.
“My first year of stencil making and painting was
full of trial and error,” says Gonzalez, “but I eventually
polished my craft, having to teach myself, along with
a mobile system for the urban art painting platform. I
began vending at festivals and providing after school
enrichment services. Eventually, I had to hire peo-
ple to cut stencils and teach my curriculum at vari-
ous schools. Needless to say, Positive Aerosol has
grown and continues to grow.”
The mission is to make art accessible to the youth in
culturally relevant forms while teaching them how to
use aerosol (spray-paint) in legal, safe, positive and
creative ways. To be sure, many of the participants
get very inspired by the artistic process and become
interested in pursuing artistic careers. Participants
can paint posters, canvases, boards, and design and
create shirts and other garments. Many of his stu-
dents have made, and continue to make money with
the artistic skills they learn through Positive Aerosol.
Gonzalez is currently working on a major fundrais-
ing and promotional video that is projected to help
Talk of the Town convert into a non-profit. Stay tuned
for the next stage of growth and positive impact this
movement is having on America’s youth.
Visit Talk of the Town: WWW.TALK-OF-THE-
TOWN.US, and TalkoftheTownBA on Facebook. ,
July 2019 • The Soultown International Magazine • Celebrating 2 years • Connecting Our Cultures to Our Cyber & Conscious Communities • thesoultown.com
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