Wonderful Wall of Wings Mural project

I recently finally got around to reading The Tipping Point. Part of the book talks about how disgusting NYC subways were in the 80's. They were riddled with crime and the transformation into making it a happier safer place started with cleaning up the graffiti on the trains. Making the space look nicer was a step in helping people feel nicer. People act like rats when they feel they're trapped in a rat hole. My school has a lovely campus with trees and playgrounds, but there are some ugly walls that needed a little help if we wanted our workspace to feel like it was a more positive environment.

The parking lot was resurfaced and the wall was power washed: a blank canvas for our paint.

We mixed paint colors and loaded rollers. Even my students who are totally blind could work a roller on a wall. It was almost impossible to do it wrong. Some students worked with brushes to go along the bottom and in the cracks, and the teamwork made for a major transformation in a few hours. Every student was assigned the task of sketching out three ideas for wings: We had bat wings, butterfly wings, steampunk wings, dragon fly wings, and more. When we looked at all of the sketches together students voted on their favorite ideas. Several people did peacock wings and several did dragon wings, so that helped tip the scales in their favor.

We drew the wings on walls with chalk first. I'd worried about weekend rain washing it awan, and so I spray painted a few simple outlines for some of the drawings. And then we painted each pair of wings with appropriate colors. This took longer than I expected because there were so many days of rain and freezing temperatures. Luckily the last week before our Winter Break, we had a few pleasant days when we could knock out the paintings to make a wing wall (between hanging our art show and putting the last parts of our student sale together). I can hardly wait to see students use the wall for a photo op and hopefully be inspired to improve themselves, as we have worked to improve our learning environment. 

 

Cyanotype Mural

A couple of months ago, my art students made a giant cyanotype mural which served as a backdrop for our Spring Art Show, and remains on the school lobby wall.  Emily Gomez, photography professor at Georgia College, introduced them to this process.  To make a cyanotype, a photosensitive solution of potassium ferricyanide and ferric ammonium citrate are added to a piece of fabric or paper. The dried surface is than placed in the sun with something on top to make a silhouette. After about 10 minutes, the surface is rinsed and the shape of the object blocking the sun remains light while the rest turns a beautiful dark, Prussian blue.

When I was a kid, my mom had us make cyanotype prints using paper snowflakes for Christmas cards.  Small pieces of fabric (that can be purchased at art stores like Dick Blick) were used by students to make hand prints. Several of the students, however, got to lie on the treated king-sized sheet and make prints of their bodies, canes, wheel chair, and large cut out letters. They'll never forget sun bathing, fully clothed in the middle of a busy college campus. And neither will I.