You’ve seen IT on every local news station! You’ve seen IT on national news stories, including CNN. You’ve seen IT on most sport’s programs, including ESPN. But, the only way you can see IT live is by visiting and touring the LeBron James Akron “I Promise School”. IT is a beautiful mural created by George Vlosich, exclusively for everyone who has the opportunity to be in the school.
In the early stages of development of the I Promise School, GV Art was invited by the LeBron James Family Foundation to tour the facility and talk through a vision of putting meaningful artwork in strategic areas throughout the school. As we toured the facility, we noticed a wall going down a pretty substantial staircase, and thought there had to be something there. The stairwell would be a busy spot for kids coming and going, and it would get major traffic. It was just too perfect and it seemed to lend itself to art.
In discussing this opportunity with the Foundation’s staff, we were made aware of some of LeBron’s mentors and heroes and people who had inspired him throughout his life. Those stories gave George inspiration and ideas and the creative process began! “I thought doing something a little bit more sports oriented would be cool for this project, so you see Muhammad Ali with a butterfly, Jackie Robinson, a young LeBron James, and some others. I wanted to include Martin Luther King Jr. in there because he was an inspiration for LeBron in his philanthropic life. Overall, I wanted to create something visually inspiring that had a message using, not only the quotes, but the portraits as well.”
The mural took three weeks to complete! It was done just in time for the school’s grand opening and first day of school on July 30. We were able to tour the school, which will provide Akron students and their parents with resources and opportunities to overcome hardships and become successful in school and in life, the day before it opened.
The finished I Promise School for grades 2 and 3 is quite amazing. It was really awesome to tour the school with my family and to see all of the “ins and outs” of the school. It made us think of how great it is to be part of something so legendary. This school could be the start of something nationally that transforms the way we educate our children.
We all know LeBron James as a great basketball player. It is so enlightening to see him put into action other things that are close to his heart. We can relate to that.