In residencies I focus on developing basic skills and talents in my students/assistants and provide a foundation for encouraging the visual language needed for translating experience to the mural surface. Most murals are site specific and assistants are encouraged to explore the demands and limitations involved in choosing their mural location and theme. In addition to collaborating on the theme, young artists learn techniques to help design, draw, transfer and enlarge images while preparing the mural surface for final painting. Students learn valuable lessons from a large-scale collaborative project. Planning and preparation combined with progressive steps toward completion help to portray a truer sense of art as both an intellectual and physical discipline.