You might have seen the holes that have been cut into the Diversity Mural.  Well we are expanding it!!  We are working with the new business owners and the city of Orlando to repair and expand the the mural. We need your HELP!!! We need more HEARTS!!! Hearts must arrive by April 1st, 2023!!

Please join the facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/409269129504668

As the hearts come in, I will post photos and tag your name, so that you know it’s been received.  I will also post # of colored hearts updates, so everyone will know which colors are needed.  

Here's a video on how to prepare the mesh to start!

To participate: 

1. Please have some mosaic, glass fusing or ceramic experience.  You are welcome to invite your friends.
2. We would like the hearts to be mostly mosaic, but a solid fused glass and clay hearts can be sent as well. Those of you doing solid fused glass hearts and ceramic clay hearts do not need to attach to mesh. Send as is.
3. You will need a piece of fiberglass mesh or tile sheet membrane, plastic sheet or freezer paper (or similar plastic-coated paper), and a piece of cardboard. Mosaics need to be done in premounting methods.  NO FACE TAPE please!  You can use face tape if you choose to use that method but please remove it before sending it.
4. Draw your heart onto the plastic or place a heart shape under clear plastic. (You can use a thick plastic bag, contact paper, or similar. I encourage re-use!) DO NOT use saran wrap or wax paper it does not come off.
5. Tape everything in place onto a thin board or piece of cardboard.
6. Tape a piece of fiberglass mesh over the plastic with the heart shape showing through. *Fiberglass mesh can be purchased from a mosaic supply store, or in bulk from a hardware store, from the stucco section. Hardware store mesh is thinner and has a sticky side. 
7. Please DO NOT use sticky mesh! Unless you add other adhesive.  The people that sent their hearts on sticky mesh – fell completely apart in shipping.
8. THINSET IS THE PREFERRED ADHESIVE to attach mosaic to mesh for an exterior project like this. If you use good thinset, it will be a solid hold that will grab the mortar when we install. Weldbond is a second choice that I usually recommend for beginners, but it results in a thin, water-soluble membrane between tesserae and mortar, which is not ideal. If you use weldbond, please be sparing so that the thinset can grab tesserae - but use enough so that the pieces don't fall off during shipping.
9. Please do NOT use tile tape. Since we do a kinda backwards way of installing, the tile tape works against the process.
10. Tesserae needs to be EXTERIOR grade and won’t fad in the sun: stained glass, glass tile, sealed mirror, stone, high-fired tile, and other solid material. If your piece is highly textured or has a lot of tiny pieces (beads, ball chain, etc.) these may end up buried in grout. We will be working fast during installation and might not have time to dig out detail work.
11. Each heart MUST be done in ONE color of the rainbow. There can be minor elements in other colors, different shades of one color, and adjacent rainbow colors can be mixed. But in order to achieve a rainbow, it is vital that each heart be in one of the following colors: Red, orange, yellow, green, blue or purple. No pink, please. No multi-colored hearts. They will not be included. As the project progresses, I will keep track and post updates to make sure we get relatively equal numbers of each color.
12. Hearts can be varying sizes, from 2" - 15". In other words, you can send us a bunch of small fused glass hearts, which will fit in spaces between larger hearts. Any heart shape is also acceptable. You can embed messages in the hearts, or images. You can commemorate a person. Please keep all messages positive. Angry and negative messages will not be included. Avoid a message that may not be relevant in 20 years.
13. Please do NOT grout your piece.
14. You can make as many hearts as you like. There is no limit.
    
    

Issues that we came across the first time:

• Hearts glued to mesh with no plastic behind, so it is actually glued directly to the cardboard it is shipped on. Even experienced mosaic artists have done this.
• Hearts glued to wax paper. Which doesn't come off easily.
• Hearts glued to saran wrap. Which doesn't come off in pieces larger than an ant.
• Please make sure the tiles you use are for exterior – the sun in FL makes everything fade. There are hearts on the wall that have a lot of white pieces, because of the materials that were use: Glitter tiles, backside painted tiles, etc.  If you are unsure, please email me or post a question in the group page.

Please pay careful attention to the instructions, so that it goes up smoothly.

I am very excited to receive your hearts and make this mural look beautiful again!

Send hearts to:

Luna Mosaic Arts
813 Virginia Dr.
Orlando, FL, 32803, USA

MUST RECEIVE HEARTS BY APRIL 1st, 2023

Thank you!!!