What do you get when you combine 200 kids and an equal amount of kid made tiles and an empty cinderblock wall? A really cool multi media mural celebrating the ecosystems in our area!
3 years ago, we invited Steve Wood aka the Concrete Couch, to facilitate a school wide public art mosaic project.
We started with raw lumps of clay, and with our on on going theme of "the valley we live in" for inspiration, guided the children from pre-K to 5th to create creatures and elements representative of our home. Older kids focused on the main event : A Mosaic Eagle for the entry. After a week of hands-on workshops and after school time and energy it all started to take shape.
Months passed, kilns broke, and the tiles ended up in a box waiting for perfect weather for installing.
Weather at this altitude is far from predictable so we came up with a plan: to install the tiles somewhere inside the school instead of outside under the big eagle.
The kids directed the evolution of the project, starting by grouping tiles on the carpet into "families" then ad libbing a storyline. It is truly amazing to work with children, as they are so free to come up with ideas and open to working with others on a big idea. Their excitement and dedication is contagious!
They got to actually hammer holes in the school walls! (do not try this at home) We had to rough up the walls in order for the mortar to stick. There was construction involved, ladders and scaffolding, tools and buckets,
imagining and illustrating. They designed, troubleshooted, installed and finished their group vision which they voted to call "Foothill to Mountain to Desert OH MY!"
See our gallery link on the sidebar for more pics.
Nesxt up? LANTERN PARADE!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment