Mural 8 in Moldavia, Romania

Painting Mural 3 was a community event in Poiana Negostarului.   In that tiny little village, in a very remote corner of Moldavia, any kind of event like this was news.  And, news of the project certainly traveled fast.  Ten minutes after starting the mural, the principal of the local school came by.  After seeing what we were up to, he exclaimed, “I want a mural in my school.”  And, of course, I immediately liked that idea.  Another wall?  Yep, I’d come back for that!

Actually getting back to Romania wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped.  I wanted to return in October.  My connections in Romania said it wasn’t a good time.  Try coming back in the spring.  So, I arranged my schedule to come back in April.  Again, my connections in Romania said it wasn’t a good time.  Try coming back in the summer.  Unfortunately, with my schedule, that wasn’t possible.  It appeared to me that the mural wouldn’t happen.

However, my connections in Romania weren’t my only connections.  The student who originally invited me to Romania (read about him in Mural 3) was about as connected as you can get.  His father owned the company that sponsored the project.  This student wanted to paint a mural for a community service project during his spring break.  Need I say more?  We went to Romania in the spring.

We were warned.  The roads were muddy and our vehicle was stuck once.  However, the rains in Romania and the muddy roads to this village paled in comparison to what I knew so very well from my Peace Corps days in West Africa during the rainy season.  This trip was a walk in the park.  Yep, it was a soggy, muddy park, but I had no doubts about getting to the school to paint the mural.  And, arrival in Poiana Negostarului was a bit of a homecoming.  It was so much fun to see everyone again from the previous mural (which remained in beautiful condition, by the way.)

There was quite an international mix of painters on this project at the school.  There were three students from Antwerp (Dutch, Belgian, and Spanish), plus two employees from the sponsoring company, and the two oldest brothers who received the last mural.  There wasn’t much space for any more help.  In fact, not everyone was able to paint at the same time.  There were simply too many elbows and just not enough elbow room.  However, nobody complained.  At least, not in a language that I could understand!


It was great to have the right connections, and Winsor & Newton again donated paint for my mural project.  It never hurts to ask.  And, it's always so appreciated when the answer is, "Yes, we support the work that you are doing."  A big "merci" to all of you at Winsor & Newton in Brussels!