The Beginning

School began. Little did my students (or myself) know what lay before us.

I introduced the idea of a mural. I talked to the students about murals, how they portray ideas and values in pictures, how they build pride in a community. We discussed things we like about our school, and possible ideas for our school's mural.

We looked at murals through the ages (thanks to the LCD projector I bought with a grant from the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, and googlesearch), and students marvelled at the mosaics that were thousands of years old. We looked at the art of Keith Haring as I discussed simplification of design (thank you to the National Gallery of Art for their training in creating podcasts). We looked at the many murals in Philadelphia, quickly becoming the city of murals. And my students just as quickly identified the mural by Keith Haring, bringing a burst of pride to my heart.

I also showed the students pictures of the Watts Towers in LA, and discussed creating art out of found objects. We read about Simon Rodia and his project, and the students were blown away by his dedication, the size of the Towers, and the amount of time Rodia put into this monument. They were also amazed at the neighborhood, the people who took ownership of the Towers after Rodia's death.

With all that in mind, we began to design. Students received small Moleskine sketchbooks, pocket-sized, which they personalized by decorating the cover. Then, they sketched ideas. We discussed. They sketched some more. We looked at more slides, from my travels - mosaics in Israel, Italy, Greece, Costa Rica. They sketched and developed their ideas. And soon, every student had an idea, and we were ready for big paper.